The Worcester City Council has approved a petition declaring Massachusetts’ second-largest municipality as a sanctuary for “transgender and gender-diverse people” after hearing residents compare the Trump administration to Nazis.

Footage from the public comment session of Tuesday’s fiery meeting has gone viral across social media, with clips showing individuals speaking passionately about the need for Worcester to become a sanctuary city for transgender people.

“Let us remember that the Nazis burned books on gender sciences first,” Michael Kingsley said. “Now, the administration has villainized and marginalized migrant workers, trans, LGBT people and even special needs, denying life-saving and affirming care.”

“It stops now,” he added. “If we don’t stand up for others now, there won’t be anybody left to stand up for us.”

After listening to an expletive-laced public comment session for roughly three hours, the City Council approved a sanctuary petition, 9-2. Under the commitment, Worcester “will not cooperate with federal and state (agencies) on policies aimed to harm transgender and gender diverse people.”

Bearing language similar to sanctuary cities for immigrants, Worcester will also “ensure transgender and gender diverse people have access to healthcare, housing, education, and employment without fear or discrimination.”

The petition, brought forward by members of the LGBTQ+ community, highlights how they are “being attacked” by an executive order President Trump signed on Jan. 22 that the federal government will recognize two sexes — male and female.

Another executive order cited is an action that Trump signed on Jan. 29, “seeking to end gender-affirming medical treatments for children and teenagers under the age of 19.”

The petition then touts how the U.S. Office of Personnel Management released a memo on that same day to all federal agencies “ending legal recognition of trans people by replacing all forms that request information about gender to information about sex.”

Worcester has been in the spotlight after Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen took a month-long leave in the middle of January due to allegations of “transphobia” within the council. Nguyen returned for Tuesday’s meeting.

“Look, I get that some of you care more about easy funding than trans lives and don’t mind Nazis for whatever reason,” resident David Webb told the City Council. “Don’t let your fears, ignorance and insecurities make other people less safe.”

The City Council’s approval comes after it delayed a vote last week over fears that federal funding could be at risk with a commitment to sanctuary status.

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City Solicitor Alexandra Kalkounis wrote a letter to the council, stating that funding had been preserved after immigrant sanctuary cities successfully won challenges in 2017 to Trump-issued executive orders threatening federal money.

“We cannot be sure what Executive Order the president will issue or how the court, many members appointed by President Trump himself, will rule if any of the pending litigation matters get to that stage,” Kalkounis wrote.

Councilor-at-Large Morris A. Bergman, who cast one of the two “no” votes, said the petition was loaded with “buzzwords” and added that he doesn’t see how it increases safety.

He said, “I can’t say without 100% confidence that the unintended consequences of doing something that doesn’t add protection than already exists isn’t going to cause harm to the other 200,000-plus people in the city of Worcester.”