POLITICS
Chaim Deutsch Offi cially Files to Run for Congress
Yet another NYC longtime opponent of LGBTQ rights is vying for Capitol Hill
BY MATT TRACY
It’s official: Anti-LGBTQ
Brooklyn City Councilmember
Chaim Deutsch has filed
with the Federal Election
Commission to kick off his run for
Congress later this year against
incumbent Yvette Clarke in the
Ninth Congressional District.
Gay City News, early last month,
first broke the news that Deutsch
was planning to mount a Democratic
primary bid against Clarke,
who was initially elected to Congress
in 2006.
Deutsch is joining an increasingly
crowded group of candidates
challenging Clarke for her seat.
Former Working Families Party organizer
Adem Bunkeddeko, small
business owner Lutchi Gayot, and
community organizer Isiah James
are also running to oust the incumbent.
Deutsch and other anti-LGBTQ
Can conservative Brooklyn Councilmember Chaim Deutsch unseat Congressmember Yvette Clarke in
the Ninth Congressional District?
Democrats running for Congress
in New York — including Bronx
Councilmembers Ruben Diaz, Sr.,
and Fernando Cabrera — threaten
to shift the Democratic Party in
PHOTO NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL/ WILLIAM ALATRISTE
the House of Representatives in
a sharply conservative direction.
Deutsch’s years-long assault on the
LGBTQ community dates back to
before he was even elected to serve
in Southern Brooklyn’s 48th Council
District, and he has put forward
a unique form of bigotry consisting
of three key elements: anti-LGBTQ
rhetoric, a disturbing record of voting
against queer causes, and allegations
of homophobia targeting
lesbian military veterans.
Deutsch’s troubling past relationship
with the community extends
back to at least 2013 when
he attacked an opponent, Theresa
Scavo, during his first Democratic
primary race for City Council.
“I have to say that, Theresa, you
have the National Organization
for Women’s endorsement, which,
I don’t know how you could represent
this community when they
have an agenda with gays and
lesbians,” he said at that debate,
which was caught on video and
posted on YouTube, a clip that has
curiously been marked “private”
➤ CHAIM DEUTSCH, continued on p.7
Clarke, Bunkeddeko Slam Foe Deutsch’s Homophobia
Lambda Dems endorse Ninth District House incumbent’s challenger Adem Bunkeddeko
BY MATT TRACY
Just two days after homophobic
Brooklyn
Councilmember Chaim
Deutsch entered the Democratic
primary race for the Ninth
Congressional district, his opponents
started slamming his dismal
record on LGBTQ issues and encouraging
supporters to soundly
reject his quest for Capitol Hill.
Incumbent Brooklyn Congressmember
Yvette Clarke sent a fundraising
email to her supporters
January 23 highlighting Gay City
News’ reporting on Deutsch’s long
history of homophobia, and another
candidate in the race, Adem
Bunkeddeko — who snagged the
endorsement of Lambda Independent
Democrats of Brooklyn (LID)
that same day — also raised the
same alarms about Deutsch’s bigotry
in his own fundraising email
to backers.
“A 5th opponent has jumped
into the NY-9 Democratic primary
— and he has an extreme anti-
LGBTQ+ agenda,” Clarke wrote in
her email to her followers. She then
pointed to an excerpt of a Gay City
News piece pointing out Deutsch’s
City Council vote against banning
so-called conversion therapy, which
is the dangerous and debunked
practice of trying to change a person’s
sexual orientation or gender
identity.
“Conversion therapy is a dangerous
practice that has been
discredited by countless medical
professionals and organizations,
and is akin to torture,” Clarke
wrote. “It has no place in our city
or our country. If Councilmember
Deutsch won’t protect the safety
and wellbeing of EVERYONE in our
community, he has no place representing
Brooklyn in Congress.”
Bunkeddeko used his email
to point out three examples of
Deutsch’s anti-LGBTQ actions
previously reported by Gay City
News — that he opposed the citywide
conversion therapy ban, voted
against a transgender and nonbinary
rights bill allowing people
to change the sex designation on
their birth certificates, and rejected
a resolution encouraging the
Department of Education to provide
support for LGBTQ students.
“On Tuesday, City Councilman
Chaim Deutsch filed to run for
Congress, and I’m counting on all
my supporters to help send him
a strong message out of the gate:
If you support anti-LGBTQ+ policies
and oppose criminal justice
reform, then you have no business
representing Central Brooklyn in
Washington,” Bunkeddeko stated.
He continued, “The last thing
we need in Congress are so-called
‘Conservative Democrats’ who vote
in line with Republicans and who
don’t embody the values of our
party. If Councilman Deutsch is
entering the race, it clearly means
he thinks he can win. Let’s prove
him wrong…”
Bunkeddeko also took aim at
Deutsch when Bill Nye, a resident
of the Ninth Congressional district,
spoke up at LID’s endorsement
meeting and asked Bunkeddeko
about his new opponent’s potential
ability to leapfrog progressives in
the race and mobilize conservative
voters to win.
“There are a number of folks
running in the race,” Bunkeddeko
responded. “But at the end
➤ ADEM BUNKEDDEKO, continued on p.7
January 30 - February 12, 2 6 020 | GayCityNews.com
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