HRC Back Story

NOTE FROM CHRIS: GREAT NEWS from Georgia Equality! The Georgia Supreme court ruled in support of Michelle Bruce, a transgender woman who was charged with "gender fraud" for running for reelection to her Riverdale City Council seat:

Georgia Equality applauds the Georgia Supreme Court for their unanimous decision to uphold fairness for transgender Georgians in their ruling in support of transgender political candidate, Michelle Bruce.  During the 2007 election to defend her seat on the Riverdale City Council, Bruce's political opponents charged her with "gender fraud" for running as an open trangender woman.  Bruce ultimately lost her seat in a close run-off election.  It is widely believed that the publicity surrounding the lawsuit was a deciding factor in Bruce's loss.

On Monday, October 6, the Georgia State Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold a lower court ruling that Michele Bruce was within her rights to run for office as a transgender woman.

In a statement, Michelle Bruce said, "Today is a great day for LGBT communities throughout Georgia and around the country.  It is also a great day for people who support the civil and human rights for all citizens.  This lawsuit was meant only to discredit me in the eyes of the voters.  The Supreme Court ruling will set a precedent to stop anything like this from happening to other transgender people who choose to run for public office." 

"We are all stronger with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities working together.  We need to understand that those who oppose us benefit when we are divided. I do want to thank, Georgia Equally staff and its members, Victory Fund staff and its members, Lambda Legal, and the Human Rights Campaign staff and all of it members for supporting me in last year's election and as this case worked its way through the courts."