Weinberger, LGBTQ groups welcome cancellation of controversial meeting

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger has joined with local LGBTQ groups in welcoming the cancellation of a meeting of the group Gender Critical Vermont at the Fletcher Free Library.

The group reserved a room at the library Tuesday to host "a discussion group for Vermonters who oppose the subversion of Women's Rights by the transgender agenda."

LGBTQ advocates have called the group's agenda hate speech. The library director in a statement said they planned to allow the meeting, citing First Amendment free speech.

The group's organizer posted on Facebook that "in the interest of maintaining a safe space for respectable open dialogue we cannot in good conscience move forward with this event at this time. We believe doing so would put our participants, library patrons and the public at risk."

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said that he welcomed the cancellation.

"Burlington seeks to be a city in which people of all backgrounds, orientations, and gender identities feel safe and enjoy a sense of belonging. This event as organized clashed with that deeply held community goal," Weinberger said in a statement. "If the event is rescheduled, I urge the organizers to do so in a manner that demonstrates an understanding of the unacceptable persecution too frequently experienced by members of our community who are transgender and non-binary."