Remarks made forward of vote to make Mass. metropolis an LGBT ‘sanctuary’
A feminine pastor blasphemed Jesus as a “drag queen,” and a trans activist appeared to make threats of violence throughout a metropolis council assembly in Massachusetts following federal adjustments that restrict authorized recognition of transgender identities.
The obvious menace got here throughout a Worcester Metropolis Council assembly earlier than the board voted 9-2 on Feb. 12 to designate town as a sanctuary for trans and “gender-diverse” individuals.
Get Our Newest Information for FREE
Subscribe to get every day/weekly e mail with the highest tales (plus particular provides!) from The Christian Submit. Be the primary to know.
Worcester, situated about 35 miles west of Boston, is the second-biggest metropolis by inhabitants within the state, with simply over 200,000 residents.
The decision, titled “Sanctuary Metropolis for Transgender and Gender Various Folks,” prevents town from cooperating with federal or state insurance policies deemed dangerous to trans-identified people and ensures entry to healthcare, housing, schooling and employment with out discrimination.
Whereas critics have argued the decision defies federal regulation and fails to guard youth, roughly 200 individuals, activists and residents, confirmed up for the council assembly to assist the decision, lots of them talking out — some even singing — through the five-hour public assembly.
Amongst those that spoke out in favor of the decision was Julie Payne-Britton, a pastor on the Hadwen Park Congregational Church, which is affiliated with the progressive United Church of Christ. Payne-Britton, who identifies as a disabled, cisgender lesbian, sported a clerical collar as she informed council members that if Jesus have been on the assembly, He can be “wearing full drag.”
“The Jesus I do know can be wearing full drag and serving face, or good-looking as a trans man, or wrapped within the garb of a non-binary one who is aware of one gender is means too small to seize their gloriousness,” Payne-Britton claimed. “The Jesus I do know can be at this mic with a trembling voice and a shaking physique and tears that won’t be held again crying, ‘make this metropolis secure for my little one.’”
“The Jesus I do know can be wearing full drag.” The enlightened clergy don’t have any drawback with a state-established faith. pic.twitter.com/tMMxKCLT8G
— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) February 13, 2025
One other speaker, a blue-haired, white-gloved man in drag who recognized as “Dee Dee Delight” spoke about being “afraid” of President Donald Trump’s govt order requiring federal companies to acknowledge solely two sexes — female and male — and a second order prohibiting trans medical operations for anybody youthful than 19.
“I would like town to guard me as a result of the federal authorities gained’t. And for those who suppose you’re afraid of Trump, it is best to see how afraid of Trump I’m,” the speaker stated.
After figuring out as “multiply disabled,” the speaker, standing in entrance of an indication that learn “Silence = demise,” issued what gave the impression to be a menace towards the council.
“For those who say you’re afraid of Trump and that’s why you don’t need town to be a secure house for [trans] individuals, you higher put together for [trans] individuals to make this a really unsafe house,” stated the individual.
A short while later, a black feminine activist warned the council about “sturdy, queer” transgender-identified individuals who “will accumulate you with the quickness.”
One other activist carrying a wig screamed on the metropolis council, “What number of of my associates should die earlier than you do something?”
“Allow us to do not forget that the Nazis burned books on gender sciences first,” one other man stated. “Now the administration has villainized and marginalized migrant employees, LGBT individuals, and even particular wants, denying lifesaving and affirming care.”
Main as much as the 2024 presidential election that he in the end gained, the Trump marketing campaign named the purpose of working to “cease the chemical, bodily, and emotional mutilation of our youth” as certainly one of its main coverage proposals. On the marketing campaign path, Trump vowed to “ask Congress to completely cease federal taxpayer {dollars} from getting used to advertise or pay for these procedures” and “cross a regulation prohibiting little one mutilation in all 50 states.”
