aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Michelle Bruce, transgender pol, loses reelection bid

She blames bigots. I do too:

Georgia’s first transgender elected official lost her bid Tuesday for a second term on the Riverdale City Council.

Michelle Bruce, who fell to political newcomer Wayne Hall, blamed people she referred to as “bigots” who questioned her gender in a lawsuit. [...]

In Riverdale, Bruce - surrounded by supporters from Georgia Equality and the Human Rights Campaign - dabbed her eyes as the results were read. Her loss came a day after a Superior Court judge threw out a lawsuit by two losing City Council candidates that alleged she lied to voters when she ran as a woman.

“I think the lawsuit had something to do with it [the loss],” she said. “I think we have a lot of work to do in Clayton County, especially Riverdale. I think we need to come together and the bigots need to go.”

LATER: The vote count:

“I lost,” Bruce said after hearing she lost to political newcomer Wayne Hall in an unofficial count of 223 votes to 308 votes. A total of 543 votes were cast.

I thought the lawsuit had something to do with the loss, too, but the numbers don’t really tell me anything about that. Bruce says she will “will continue to fight for LGBT rights and for all the citizens.”

And bring a civil lawsuit against those who sued her.

The AJC puts the election in context.