LGBTQ+ Commission Meeting

Report from Rainbows Across Communities

Public Comments / Announcements

Next Commission Meeting: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026,6pm, Hybrid (689 Mass. Ave, 2nd Floor, & Zoom)

Item 1.

Gender Inclusion Ordinance

   (A)   All existing and future city-issued forms, documents and certificates that provide for a gender or sex designation shall do so using language that includes all genders and family structures. All forms shall include an option where an individual may designate their chosen name if different from their legal name. 

   (B)   All city-issued forms will only collect information about gender and family structures when necessary and appropriate for delivering city services. The city departments collecting this information shall take measures to protect individuals’ privacy and safety.

   (C)   The appropriate city departments shall prepare a report for the Council, listing all city forms or documents that require individuals to designate their gender or sex, whether the form has a gender neutral designation option, and whether, if applicable, binary gender designation is required by city, commonwealth or federal law. This report shall be filed in Cambridge City Council within 60 days of the passage of this Section.

   (D)   The appropriate city departments shall develop guidelines to aid in the implementation of this ordinance, similar to Boston’s “Gender-Aware Guidelines and Standards for City of Boston Services.”

Item 2. 

An Open Letter to City Manager Yi-An Huang and the Cambridge Community

From the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women

We are writing to express our unequivocal alarm and deep outrage at the sudden layoffs of the entire staff of the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women. Under no circumstances should this decision have been made, and certainly not in this way.

The Women’s Commission does the work of reminding the city how to treat people, uplifting the values of care and community that are an essential part of both process and outcome. As a Commission, we are legally charged with “acting as a centralizing force” on women’s issues in Cambridge and taking “such action as the Commission considers appropriate to ensure the equal status of women.” This is such a moment. The abrupt dismantling of the staff who carryout this mandate is not an internal administrative decision, it is a direct threat to the safety, equity, and wellbeing of women and gender-expansive people across the city. When the City’s own actions undermine the very infrastructure designed to protect women, we are obligated by ordinance, by principle, and by history to respond forcefully and publicly.

The manner in which these women were laid off is appalling, inhumane, and unacceptable. The abruptness, the lack of transparency, and the absence of basic respect shown throughout this process have caused real harm, not only to the staff directly affected, but across the City’s workforce. Decisions approached in this way sow fear and anxiety, especially among those who have dedicated their careers to equity, safety, and public service. No employee should ever be treated this way.

This action was carried out abruptly, without consultation, without transparency, and without any regard for the harm it causes to our community, to our partners, and to the people who relied on the Commission’s staff every day. It undermines nearly five decades of gender-equity work in Cambridge. It destabilizes services for women, girls, survivors, and gender-expansive individuals. It dismantles relationships, institutional knowledge, and trust that cannot simply be replaced or “covered” by other departments.

We reject entirely the narrative that the Commission’s work will continue “unaffected.” This is simply not true.

The City Manager’s actions violate the requirements of the City’s own ordinance governing this Commission. Under Cambridge Municipal Code 2.88.050, the Executive Director of the Commission on the Status of Women is appointed by the City Manager with the advice of the Commission , and “shall have adequate staff assistance” to fulfill the Commission’s mandate. By eliminating the staff required to carry out that mandate and bypassing the Commission in a process where our advice is legally required, the City Manager has acted in direct contradiction to both the letter and the intent of the ordinance.

The Women’s Commission is a sacred and integral part of our city’s past and present. It is people. It is expertise. It is relationships built over years. It is the labor, much of it invisible and emotionally demanding, that supports survivors, sustains prevention programs, and holds together a community safety net that the City has repeatedly claimed to value. You cannot eliminate every staff member and simultaneously claim the work will be uninterrupted. That framing is misleading, minimizing, and insulting.

Once again, the burden of emotional labor is being shifted onto women. Unpaid commissioners, nonprofit partners, community advocates, and survivors themselves are now expected to absorb the shock, manage the fallout, reassure partners, and repair the trust this decision has fractured. This expectation, implicit or explicit, is unacceptable. It is a gendered pattern we recognize all too well, and we refuse to replicate it on the City’s behalf.

We are demanding the following:

A public acknowledgment that these layoffs significantly disrupt and diminish the Commission’s legally mandated operations, including its ability to serve as the centralizing force on women’s issues as defined in Cambridge Municipal Code 2.88.

A public correction of the false narrative that the Commission’s work can continue unchanged without its staff, given the ordinance’s staffing requirements.

A full, detailed explanation of why and how this decision was made, including who authorized it and why the Commission was not notified in advance, despite the ordinance requiring that the City Manager act “with the advice of the Commission” in matters related to the Executive Director.

A concrete plan to restore capacity, including staffing, budget, and a public timeline, created in collaboration with the Commission and released to the community.

A meaningful transition for affected staff including pay and benefits through the end of the fiscal year.

A commitment to engaging in a process of restoration to repair harm including transparent steps to rebuild trust, stabilize the Commission’s work, and address the impact of this decision through the lens of gender equity, as per the Commission’s mandate.

A legally compliant hiring process for the Executive Director, carried out in accordance with Cambridge Municipal Code 2.88.050 and in genuine partnership with the Commission, as required by ordinance.