He said, she said, they said
Judge tosses gender non-binary candidates’ lawsuit against Brooklyn Dems
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A Brooklyn Supreme Court
judge dismissed a lawsuit
against the Brooklyn Democratic
Party by six gender nonbinary
candidates for local
offi ces on April 29, citing procedural
issues and arguing that
the aspiring politicians fi led
their case too late in the current
election cycle.
Justice Edgar Walker declined
to rule on whether the
gender parity rules by the
party and state election law
infl icted on the Constitutional
and human rights of the candidates
— who identify across
a spectrum of gender non-conforming
identities, including
non-binary, genderfl uid, genderqueer,
or transgender.
The six political hopefuls
fi led ballot applications to run
for County Committee membership,
the lowest rung of elected
offi ce representing a handful of
blocks known as election districts,
in the June 23 election.
The rules of the Brooklyn
Democratic Party require that
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candidates fi le to run as either
“Male” or “Female,” in order
to adhere with the state election
law’s gender parity rules
originally intended to bring
more women into the political
sphere.
The candidates refused to
choose either male or female
positions, because it did not
align with their gender identity,
which caused the city’s
Board of Elections to invalidate
their ballot petitions.
Judge Walker said that the
April 3 lawsuit, organized by
the reform-oriented club New
Kings Democrats, effectively
asks the court to create a third
position without a gender designation,
but said there’s “no express
statutory authority that
allows a court to modify and/
or create a new public offi ce or
party position” in state election
law. However, the judge
was sympathetic toward issue
and said that the party could
adopt a rule change itself at its
next meeting in September. If it
adopts the existing framework
without change, he encouraged
plaintiffs to bring forth their
case again with more time
ahead of the 2022 races.
The six candidates sued the
party alleging that the political
group was violating their Constitutional
and human rights
by only allowing them to run
for county committee if they
declared themselves either a
male or female candidate.
During court proceedings,
the party’s lawyers asked for
the court to dismiss the case,
saying that the party acted in
accordance with the state election
law. The Brooklyn Dems
also argued that they had a legal
right to exclude whomever
they wanted from the party,
without infringing on the candidates’
rights.
After the ruling, NKD called
on the party to recognize gender
as a spectrum beyond male
and female, and more than 500
party members and electeds
have already signed on to a
statement in support of non-binary
candidates.
A spokesman for the Brooklyn
Democratic Party said its
leaders were supportive of
wider inclusion in the party,
but that they were deferring to
their state counterparts, who
are currently studying the issue.
“We are clearly empathetic
to the argument to expand inclusion,
which drove the addition
of the male-female gender
parity requirement in the fi rst
place. We are closely monitoring
the State Committee deliberations
over this issue,” said
Bob Liff of George Arzt Communications.
Derek Gaskill, who identifi es as trans masculine, was one of six plaintiffs
to sue the Brooklyn Democratic Party. Courtesy of Derek Gaskill
Making Sense of the Census
Thank Our
Nurses.
Fill Out
The Census.
By Julie Menin, Director of NYC
Census 2020
Every day at 7:00 pm, New York
City comes together to show our
thanks to the health care workers
caring for our neighbors as we fight
COVID-19. And from May 6 to May 12,
people across the country will be celebrating
these frontline workers during
National Nurses Week.
And right after we take the time
to cheer our frontline workers, we
can also do our part to support them
for years to come by taking the 2020
Census.
The census is how NYC gets the
funding we need for our hospitals,
health care, emergency services,
schools, housing, senior centers, and
countless other public programs for
the next ten years. And when more of
us are counted, we get more funding.
So to keep frontline healthcare
workers fully resourced — not just
through the duration of this pandemic,
but for the next decade — every
New Yorker needs to be counted.
Luckily, it’s never been easier. You
can go online to my2020census.gov
or call 1-844-330-2020 right now and
answer 10 simple questions in just 5
minutes. Your information is 100%
confidential and protected by law.
Nurses and essential workers are
counting on us now more than ever to
fill out the census. As you get ready to
make some noise tonight, take a few
moments to give back by making sure
your household is counted.
Let’s clap for our nurses today and
fill out the census to support them
into tomorrow.
“Making Sense of the Census” is a
weekly column from Julie Menin, Director
of NYC Census 2020. Every week
we will be publishing pieces from Julie
and guest authors laying out the facts
and answering tough questions about
this year’s census. Fill out the census
now at my2020census.gov.
BEST ATTORNEY AND
JOHN J. CIAFONE ESQ.
203 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-278-3900
johnjciafone@yahoo.com
NYS
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