➤ TERRANCE KNOX, from p.10
ing in him values he carries with
him today.
The experiences he had in his
youth infl uence his political perspective
today. He remembers back
to his childhood, which elicits a
range of memories: While it was
a time when he would make his
own clothes and don his mother’s
wigs as he danced to Diana Ross,
he also faced anti-LGBTQ bullying
when he was in the seventh grade.
“You have to stop this early on,”
Knox said of school bullying. “Kids
are being trained to attack trans
and gay people, it’s been engrained
in them early on.”
To that end, Knox is sounding
the alarm about violence facing
transgender women of color, not
just across the nation — but right
in Brooklyn — and expressed his
unwavering support for the movement
for comprehensive decriminalization
of sex work. He also
backs the effort in Albany to repeal
the discriminatory loitering law
known as a ban on “walking while
trans” because of the way police
have used it to harass transgender
women.
Knox also sees a need to rein
in police at the city level. He was
disappointed after the City Council
approved a budget over the summer
that did not meet activists’
demands to substantially reduce
police funding and shift resources
to marginalized communities.
When asked how he would have
voted on that budget, Knox said
“no” three times and had strong
words about out gay Speaker Corey
Johnson, who faced the brunt of
criticism for his role in overseeing
budget negotiations with Mayor
Bill de Blasio.
“It was a sham and Corey knew
it, but he said he took the best deal
he could get,” Knox said. “This is
what we have been dealing with for
years. No, you have to be ready to
lay down the law and say, ‘Look,
fi ne, shut it down until we get what
we need.’”
Knox’s political platform contains
calls for changes to policing
— he describes it as reimaging
public safety — and he said there
needs to be a multi-pronged approach
to responding to calls to the
police based on whether the situation
calls for resolving a domestic
violence case or addressing mental
health needs.
There is no need, he said, to
send an “armed militarized public
servant who does not live in the
community.”
Knox also plans to focus on prioritizing
school desegregation and
equalizing funding for the city’s
local school districts, creating affordable
housing that is actually
affordable, redirecting the focus on
environmental issues in Brooklyn,
and establishing alternatives to incarceration.
“We don’t need to build new jails
if we are looking at what crimes
are actually worthy of locking people
up,” he said. “There are other
ways. In 2021 we are still going to
be locking people in cages for infractions.”
Knox stressed nuances in his
political views. While he often
agrees with the Democratic Socialists
of America, he said, he is not
aligned with them on everything,
and although he has pushed back
against greedy developers he is
not self-imposing restrictions on
campaign donations from real estate
developers or other special interests
as some other progressive
candidates are.
As he builds out his campaign,
Knox said he is working to secure
major union endorsements and
has met with the Working Families
Party on multiple occasions.
But he said he is not seeking the
support of LID — despite having
once led the club. LID is holding an
endorsement meeting on November
19 and will pick a candidate in
his race, as well as in three other
Council contests.
“They seemed like they were already
aligned with the candidate
they wanted to go with months
ago,” Knox said of LID. “I’m not
participating in the endorsement
meeting and that should tell you
everything. At the core, Lambda
still has this issue. Brooklyn is
heavily minority, Lambda is not.”
Still, as Knox dives into a crowded
fi eld vying for the open seat in
the 35th Council District, he welcomes
the competition — and he is
proud to be in a race that has three
out LGBTQ candidates.
“I say the more the merrier,” Knox
said. “It’s going to come down to
who is connecting with the people
and who can show who is anointed
and given donors and infrastructure
by people in offi ce.”
· CELEBRATE WITH A P LATE · CELEBRATE WITH A P LAT E
No one should go hungry when they
are living with severe illness.
Especially when it’s the holidays.
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