The US Brooklyn Democratic Party voted unanimously to remove gender requirements from its county committee seats after it was sued by six trans and non-binary candidates.
According to the Brooklyn Paper, the candidates were forced to run as either male or female without their consent as the party’s current rules mean seats require an even split of male and female representatives, leading them to sue the party earlier this year. Derek Gaskill, who was one of the six people campaigning for the party to remove its gender requirements, said: “For me as a trans person trying to engage with local politics, it was disheartening that there were only two options at county level.