Transgender politician fights fraud claims

[Tab]

Source: Associated Press

RIVERDALE, Ga. - Four years after she won a City Council seat, making her what is believed to be Georgia's first transgender politician, Michelle Bruce is battling a lawsuit launched by an unsuccessful opponent who claims she misled voters by running as a female.

Bruce, a tall woman with shoulder-length graying hair, said she has always identified herself as transgender.

"I've always been Michelle," she said. "If someone has a problem with that, I can't help them. It's a personal issue."

Bruce, 46, who runs an auto repossession business, launched her political campaign in 2003. Running unopposed, she landed one of four council seats and pledged to attract more jobs and residents to Riverdale, a gritty town of 12,000 about 12 miles south of Atlanta, lined with rundown strip malls and used car shops.

Three rivals ran against her in the Nov. 6 election. She captured 312 votes, not enough to avoid a Dec. 4 runoff against second-place finisher Wayne Hall, who earned 202 votes.

Then the third-place finisher, Georgia Fuller, who collected 171 votes, filed a lawsuit claiming election fraud.

The complaint, identifying Bruce as "Michael Bruce," claims she misled voters by identifying herself as female. It asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election.
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"It gives her an unfair advantage," said attorney Michael King. "It's not just sour grapes. The people need to know whether the election is fair."

"She has served as councilperson for four years as Michelle Bruce," she said. "It sounds like a case of politics."

Bruce won't say if she had surgery to change her gender, saying it's a personal matter.

She deflected most questions about her personal life to address her hopes for Riverdale, a town she said is in search of an identity.

"People want a candidate that will listen to them, protect them, save them money and be there for them," she said. "And I always will be."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071122/ap_on_re_us/transgender_politician

[mtnester]

1. I call BS...what if her name was Pat?

Sheesh

[Chovexani]

2. That asshole is an anti-trans POS

Not to mention a sore loser. Here's to hoping this case gets laughed out of court.

[cullen2382]

3. She IS female!

People do not understand transgender people that really aggravates me. To this woman, she is a woman and has always been a woman she was just born in the wrong body. Transgender people go through so much to get to be who they really are. My supervisor's daughter is 18 and transgender. She is attracted to straight women. She doesn't think of herself as a lesbian, she thinks of herself as a boy. People really need to get educated on this stuff.

[Tab]

5. I have to say that for her to run for office...

I have to say that for her to run for office takes a lot of courage. I'm just a hetero white male myself, and I've only known a few TGs, and not very well, but I would think being TG would have to be one of the most difficult things to be in this society, and to run for office on top of that... hell, I wouldn't even want to run for office myself because of the scrutiny you have to go through to get elected, and frankly if I was TG I'd probably put it out of my mind altogether. The fact that she can do it - not just can, but DID - shows more courage than most candidates likely ever have.

On edit: And in Georgia, no less! I wouldn't put Georgia, nice as it is, at the top of my list of the states I'd immediately name as being the most receptive for this.

[Tempest]

4. How could it have given Bruce an unfair advantage?

The person filing the lawsuit is a woman.

I don't see how a court is going to agree with her.

It's not like Bruce ran against all men.