➤ CHAIM DEUTSCH, from p.6 ➤ ADEM BUNKEDDEKO, from p.6
of the day, if folks like yourself, if
folks across our district reject Mr.
Deutsch outright, I think we can
defeat him.”
Incumbent Yvette Clarke, delivering
remarks to Lambda Independent
Democrats, told her backers
that Chaim Deutsch has an “extreme
anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.”Matt
Tracy
After Bunkeddeko’s speech, Nye
told Gay City News that he is afraid
Deutsch will try rallying voters in
the community to support him.
“He’s not the first homophobic
elected official,” Nye said. “But, living
in the district, I’ve known about
him and I don’t like his campaign
at all.”
Gay City News’ reporting about
Deutsch, who is the chair of the
City Council’s Committee on Veterans,
has included stories about his
voting record, his alleged mistreatment
of lesbian military veterans,
and his 2013 homophobic attack
on a political opponent simply because
she was endorsed by the National
Organization for Women.
“I don’t know how you could represent
PHOTO MATT TRACY
Adem Bunkeddeko, who won the endorsement of
the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
in his challenge to Congressmember Yvette
Clarke, speaks to the club after blasting Chaim
Deutsch in an email to his supporters.
this community when they
have an agenda with gays and lesbians,”
Deutsch said to Theresa
Scavo, who was running in the
Democratic primary for the seat
Deutsch currently occupies in the
48th Council District.
since then.
Deutsch’s bigotry has also seeped
into his public service role on numerous
occasions over the years
— and his record shows that he
as transphobic as he is homophobic:
He rejected legislation allowing
individuals to change the sex
designation on their birth certificates,
voted against a bill banning
conversion therapy citywide, and
opposed a common-sense resolution
encouraging the Department
of Education to provide curricular
and other support for queer students,
among several other bills.
Numerous people who have interacted
with Deutsch have recalled
disturbing encounters with
him. Out lesbian Kristen Rouse,
the former president and founding
director of the New York City
Veterans’ Alliance, told Gay City
News that the Brooklyn lawmaker
told her “that he cannot be seen
supporting the equality of LGBTQ
individuals, even if they are veterans.”
She also said Deutsch avoided
meetings with out lesbian Loree
Sutton when she was the commissioner
of the Department of Veterans’
Services. Sutton is now running
for mayor.
Lyosha Gorshkov, who previously
led an LGBTQ organization
for Russian-speaking immigrants
called RUSA LGBT, said Deutsch
told him he felt people should have
a “choice” to undergo conversion
therapy and that he does “not support
same-sex marriage because
it’s against my religion.”
Deutsch’s bid follows behind
those of Caberera and Diaz, who
have both already declared their
candidacies. Diaz, who has railed
against LGBTQ rights for decades
and most recently complained that
the City Council is controlled by
gays, is running for an open seat
in New York’s 14th Congressional
District. Cabrera is running
against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
in the 15th Congressional District
roughly six years after he traveled
to Uganda and praised the government’s
effort to impose draconian
punishments for same-sex relations.
Cabrera is also the founder
and pastor at New Life Outreach
International, a church opposed to
equal marriage rights.
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