HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-11-19-LHRC-min.pdf
Town of Lexington Human Rights Committee
Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, November 19th, 2025
LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT
Christina Lin, Chair (CL); Stephanie Hsu, Vice-Chair (SH); Stephanie Ryan (SR); Rachel Levy (RL); Judy
Zola (JZ); Hafsah Syed (HS); Mamata Banerjee (MB)
Liaisons in attendance - Mark Sandeen, Select Board (MS); Colleen Dunbar, Lexington Police (CD);
Dana Bickelman, Director of Human Services (DB); Juanica Buchanan, Human Services Outreach
Coordinator (JB)
The minutes recorded by Mamata Banerjee
Overview : The Lexington Human Rights Committee discussed various initiatives including upcoming
events, documentation efforts, and the need for better committee engagement and accountability. The group
reviewed plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities and approved a statement in support of the LGBTQ+
community and Transgender Day of Remembrance. At a recent Select Board meeting, they outlined their
community goals, with a focus on affordable housing and economic vibrancy. The committee discussed how
to align their activities with these broader town objectives.
Meeting called to order at 7:03pm
Lexington Human Rights Updates
The Lexington Human Rights Committee meeting covered several updates and discussions. CD
reported on plans for an upcoming awareness event in February or March, focusing on hate incidents
versus hate crimes and involving the DA's office and the State Police Hate and Bias Response Team.
JZ shared details about a recent educational meeting on antisemitism, which was attended by 100
people from various faith communities.
The committee approved minutes for 10/08/2025 after RL requested a correction to a sentence
about Jewish holidays.
Supporting the New Equity Team
The committee discussed welcoming the new equity team. DB announced that Luke Burke-Fournier
has been hired as the new Assistant Director of Human Resources and Internal Equity Office starting
December 1st. They reviewed potential ways to support the equity team, including building personal
relationships, organizing joint roadshows, and potentially collaborating on hosting a roundtable with
stakeholders. The committee also touched on the need for point people to connect with community
groups.
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Enhancing LHRC Documentation and Outreach
The meeting focused on enhancing the Lexington Human Rights Committee’s profile in the community and
Town. Committee members suggested consolidating a document to capture the committee's impact and
intangible perspectives; they emphasized the need to involve senior leadership and the equity team in LHRC
activities. The group discussed an idea for a roundtable to build connections with new equity team members
and external organizations. Also, appropriate pacing and the need to balance committee members' workloads
was stressed. A member stressed the importance of advocating for full-time equity roles to ensure effective
execution of responsibilities and maintain morale.
Discussion notes on working with new equity team:
What are actions/concerns that the LHRC would like to share as considerations to explore for the new
team? The intent is to share this committee's perspectives and provide a starting point for dialogue and
collaboration.
● Annual impact report out on DEI goals and metrics - Impact allows the reporting to be
more than just numbers, but allow qualitative data to shape the
● Addressing community conflicts and accountability: External facing officers might be
engaged with how the community is treating each other. (Hate/Bias WG)
● Work with equity team on process to put in place when there is an incident in Town
(Hate/Bias working group)
● A conversation about the Tangible Development report. The report captures staff views,
but is likely representative of community views as well.
● Ensuring that the Equity team has sufficient Town support to achieve their goals. The
internal and external facing officers essentially have two jobs - ensure that they are not
taking on two FT jobs as opposed to a single FT position split across two roles.
A letter acknowledging Transgender Day of Remembrance was drafted by the Chair and edited
by the group. The final letter is at the bottom of the minutes.
Given the lateness of the hour, SH motioned to accept the drafted letter affirming Transgender
Day of Remembrance with minor edits that HS, SH and CL will finalize. The committee
approved the motion.
8:49PM - meeting adjourned.
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November 20, 2025
On this day of Transgender Remembrance, the Lexington Human Rights Committee
reaffirms our core values of inclusion and belonging, recognizing that all people possess
fundamental aspects of identity that are inherent and immutable. These undeniable truths shape
who we are and form the foundation of humanity’s richness and resilience.
Today and all days, we honor the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts
of anti-transgender violence. Furthermore, we push back against the acts of violence and
harmful denial of trans people. Nationally, efforts to deny LGBTQ+ people their full rights have
escalated—blocking transgender and non-binary access to bathrooms, denying gender-affirming
healthcare for trans people (especially youth), banning books, and erasing queer identities in
education. This trend is alarming and these efforts will not stop or fade on their own.
This is a moment where we have an opportunity to stand up against voices that promote
intolerance of the trans community and take action to defend the fundamental rights of all
people as stated in Article1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that ‘all human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.’1
You can honor this principle by
1. Voice your support for and learn about policies impacting our queer community
2. Challenge those who express intolerance while respecting their dignity
3. Educate our future generations to build a more understanding and tolerant future.
4. Support LexPride and other state and national organizations that support the queer
community. There are also mutual aid initiatives that support LGBTQ+ people.
The Lexington Human Rights Committee loudly and proudly stands with the value of dignity
and belonging for all.
Signed and approved by the Lexington Human Rights Committee
1 https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
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