Massachusetts’ first openly non-binary elected politician has taken a month off work for the sake of their mental health after being accused of laziness and asked to return to in-person meetings.
Thu Nguyen, who uses they/them pronouns, accused some of their fellow Worcester City Council members of deliberately misgendering them and referring to them as ‘it’.
However, Nguyen’s colleagues claim that any misgendering was accidental and suggested that they had only made the transphobia claims after they were challenged over their poor attendance record and ordered to return to in-person meetings.
Nguyen demanded an immediate investigation into what they described as a ‘toxic political culture’ and called out several lawmakers by name in a statement on Instagram.
They claimed to have been misgendered by Mayor Joe Petty and Councilor At-Large Kathleen Toomey. Nguyen also alleges they were referred to as ‘it’ on multiple occasions by Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson.
‘These hateful acts are unbecoming of a legislative body whose duty is to serve our communities and to honor and enforce anti-discrimination laws,’ Nguyen wrote, announcing a ‘hiatus’.
Thu Nguyen, Massachusetts ‘ first openly non-binary elected politician, is taking a month off work for mental health reasons after alleging transphobia from their colleagues
Mayor Joe Petty denied the claims and suggested that Nguyen had only made the allegations after he requested that they attend more meetings in person
However, Mayor Petty countered Nguyen’s claims by suggesting that they, ‘arose from the decision to mandate in-person attendance for City Council and subcommittee meetings’, the Boston Globe reports.
On Tuesday Petty asked for the Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee committee to hold a public hearing on officials attending hearings remotely.
He said Nguyen has missed half of the traffic and parking subcommittees and has failed to hold a meeting for a transportation sub committee they chair.
‘Failing to participate in these essential responsibilities is unacceptable,’ Petty said. ‘I will not apologize for holding myself and my colleagues accountable to the responsibilities entrusted to us by the people we serve.’
Nguyen hit back by stating that their low and remote attendance of sessions was due to the ‘transphobia’ they had experienced from colleagues.
‘I have always tried to treat every councilor with the dignity and respect they deserve,’ Petty added.
‘I would never knowingly say anything harmful, and I firmly believe everyone deserves the dignity of having their identity honored and respected.’
Petty said Nguyen was referring to an incident in 2022 where he accidentally misgendered them during a meeting but insisted he had apologized.
Councillor Kathleen Toomey admitted to misgendering Nguyen, but insisted it was accidental
Councillor Mero-Carlson said that she ‘did not recall’ making such statements and that the claims, ‘misrepresents my character, my record, and the values I have consistently upheld’
‘Once brought to my attention, I quickly corrected the mistake and apologized. I am committed to ensuring my language reflects that respect at all times,’ he said.
Councilor Toomey admitted to misgendering Nguyen, but insisted it was accidental.
‘Early on when the Councilor was elected, I did make an honest error in addressing the councilor and may have done so a few times, for which I apologized. There has never been any intentional or consistent misgendering,’ Toomey said.
Councilor Mero-Carlson said that she ‘did not recall’ making such statements and that the claims, ‘misrepresents my character, my record, and the values I have consistently upheld’.
She added that Nguyen has the ‘lowest attendance record of any City Councilor’ and accused them of attempting to weaponize their allegations for political purposes.