Boston’s City Council voted 12-1 at a meeting March 12 to officially designate the city as a sanctuary for transgender individuals and the wider LGBTQ+ community.
The resolution, led by Councilors Julia Mejia and Liz Breadon, aims to protect members of Boston’s community from recent “escalation in anti-trans rhetoric and violence,” Breadon said at the meeting.
“We must create our own sacred spaces, sanctuaries that are portals of safety, healing and cultural abundance,” Mejia said during the meeting. “We must codify this so that our community finds belonging.”
This resolution comes after President Donald Trump issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights, including orders restricting gender recognition and banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
Breadon, the first openly gay woman elected to the council, said she feels it is her “commitment and a responsibility to speak up” for the LGBTQ community.
“In this moment in time, our trans community is under incredible political pressure, especially from the government, the Trump administration,” Breadon said. “They’re really going after marginalized communities of all kinds, but especially the trans community.”
Councilor Ed Flynn was the only member of the body to vote against the measure.
In a statement to The Daily Free Press, Flynn wrote that he would have supported the resolution if it had undergone public hearings before the vote.
“I am proud to be a friend and a strong advocate for neighbors in the LGBTQ+ community throughout Boston and beyond,” Flynn wrote, citing his support for LGBTQ+ veterans and his role in passing the “Always Ask, Proud to Tell Day” resolution marking the 10th anniversary of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Breadon said Flynn’s opposition may have stemmed from concerns about city spending.
“[Flynn] tends to be fiscally conservative, and he just may have thought it was just another thing that we want to need to spend money on,” Breadon said. “That’s my theory.”
Councilor Henry Santana, who ultimately supported the resolution, said he initially hesitated because he wanted to see real policy changes alongside the declaration.
“There’s a lot more work that needs to be done in order for us to get to actually be a sanctuary city in practice,” Santana said. “I’m very proud to be able to work with my colleagues on an ordinance that would do just that.”
Santana, along with Breadon, Mejia, and other community leaders, is working on an ordinance that would put legal protections in place for LGBTQ+ residents.
“We want to protect our most vulnerable and most marginalized residents here in the city of Boston,” Santana said. “We’re here to do the work.”
Councilor Enrique Pepén, who also backed the resolution, wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press he was proud to lend his support.
“Boston has a deep history and connection with the LGBTQIA2s+ community,” Pepen wrote. “I am excited to work with Council colleagues and advocacy organizations on enacting ordinances to protect trans rights on a local level while they are being stripped away at the national level.”
Local advocacy organizations have supported the resolution but also echoed calls for further action.
Bailey Merlin and Brooke Lindley are advocacy committee co-chairs of the Bisexual Resource Center, an organization that works to foster community among LGBTQ people in Boston.
“True safety comes not just from policy but from action,” Merlin and Lindley wrote. “We hope to see continued efforts to ensure that every trans person in our city can thrive without fear.”
Breadon said she hopes the resolution is the beginning of a larger movement to help the transgender community.
“We will actually strengthen and highlight the concerns of a trans community, but also hopefully work with other partners to identify supports and remedies to where they see deficiencies in the system,” she said.
Michelle Wiener, the director of program development and impact at The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth, wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press that this resolution is “one step toward” protecting LGBTQ+ rights.
Wiener wrote that the resolution could be strengthened with local and state policies, including protections for gender-affirming healthcare, provider safety and funding for HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
“We are excited to continue working with our partners in the community and City Council to strengthen this resolution and truly protect our community,” Wiener wrote. “There are many more moments of LGBTQ+ youth health and happiness in the coming years.”
