City Councilor Kendra Lara (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill) says she's fed up with what she considers the "homophobic and transphobic rhetoric" from Councilors Ed Flynn (South Boston, South End, Chinatown, downtown), Michael Flaherty (at large) and Erin Murphy (at large) in the days after first responders found a dead man in a Mary Ellen McCormack apartment.
In a statement yesterday, Lara said:
As elected officials, we are responsible for handling these tragedies with the respect and dignity our constituents deserve. Instead, in the days following the incident, I saw from three members of the Boston City Council behavior that lacked empathy and respect for the facts and stoked the kind of homophobic and transphobic rhetoric that puts our most vulnerable residents at risk. Our colleagues have actively misgendered the trans women involved, calling them "men in wigs." In direct contradiction with the statements of the Boston Police, they've miscategorized the conditions of a constituent's home and spread stories about "sex toys and drugs" that are unsubstantiated to date, furthering the false right-wing narrative that our trans siblings are sexual deviants who our children need protecting from.
Although our colleagues voted favorably for a resolution celebrating Pride Month, they have shown no respect for this community, opting instead for scandalizing a tragedy to garner press attention and political points with the extreme right in our City under the guise of public safety.