Non-Binary Candidates Sue Brooklyn Democrats
Parity between male and female state committee members, district leaders challenged
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A group of non-binary
political candidates
have sued the Brooklyn
Democratic Party
and the city’s Board of Elections
because their ballot petitions only
allowed for male or female gender
designations, demanding that the
party drop gender parity rules
originally intended to bring more
women into the political sphere.
The six Brooklynites running
for county committee membership
of the party — the lowest rung
of elected offi ce — allege that the
party and the government body
violated their right to due process
and equal protection under the
14th Amendment of the US Constitution,
according to the April 3
lawsuit.
One plaintiff said he was disappointed
by the lack of recognition
Derek Gaskill, who identifi es as trans masculine, is one of six plaintiffs suing the Brooklyn Democratic
Party.
for non-binary identities in the political
process.
“For me as a trans person trying
to engage with local politics, it was
COURTESY OF DEREK GASKILL
disheartening that there were only
two options at county level,” said
Derek Gaskill, who identifi es as
trans masculine. “You have to declare
POLITICS
that you’re male or female.”
Gaskill and his fellow plaintiffs
— who are vying to represent sections
of Williamsburg, Bushwick,
and Bedford-Stuyvesant — all
fi lled out petitions in March with
signatures from local voters to run
for county committee in the June
and November elections. However,
they left the gender fi eld blank because
the sheets only had the options
of male or female.
The six prospective candidates
identify across a spectrum of gender
non-conforming identities, including
non-binary, genderfl uid,
genderqueer, and transgender, according
to the lawsuit, which was
organized by the reform-oriented
club New Kings Democrats.
They allege that the Board of
Elections then fi lled out the gender
designation without their con-
➤ NON-BINARY DEMS, continued on p.11
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