Judge finds no gender fraud in Riverdale election

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Judge finds no gender fraud in Riverdale election

Postby elfeminista » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:46 pm

Judge finds no gender fraud in Riverdale election

By MEGAN MATTEUCCI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/03/07
Riverdale will proceed with its runoff election Tuesday.

A Spalding County Superior Court judge threw out a petition to halt the runoff after nearly four hours of testimony Monday.

"The court finds no facts shown of illegality or irregularity," Judge Johnnie Caldwell Jr. said. "There has been no fraud perpetrated to the citizens of Riverdale."

Riverdale's council and mayor's races are two of 14 runoffs scheduled for Tuesday, including mayoral races in Doraville, Norcross and the Chattahoochee Hill Country. Candidates also will compete for three council seats in Chattahoochee Hill Country and one each in Forest Park, Doraville, Duluth, Lovejoy and Peachtree City, along with an alderman seat in Acworth.

A losing Lovejoy council candidate filed suit last week to halt the runoff, but a judge will not hear the case until Dec. 13. City attorney Keith Martin said Monday the election is still on.

In Riverdale, incumbent Michelle Bruce — cited by the National Center for Transgender Equality as the first transgender elected official in the Georgia — will compete against political newcomer and Atlanta firefighter Wayne Hall for council ward 2.

Two losing Riverdale City Council candidates — Georgia Fuller and Stan Harris — asked a judge to rule the Nov. 6 general election invalid and halt the runoff, alleging Bruce lied to voters when she ran as a woman.

In their suit, Fuller and Harris allege Bruce's name is Michael Bruce. Their attorney, Michael King, argued that Bruce's birth certificate lists her as Mickey Dwayne Bruce and a man.

"I understand he's been on the council for four years, but they believed he was a female and not a male," King told the court. "He did that to deceive the females to get their vote."

Bruce testified that she changed her name in Clayton County Superior Court in 1980 to Mickey Michelle Bruce and goes by Michelle Mickey Bruce. She said she is transgender and declined to answer additional questions about her gender.

Bruce testified that she never was named Michael Bruce.

Cole Thaler, a transgender rights attorney for gay advocacy group Lambda Legal, said he was pleased to see the judge side with Bruce.

"There is a common misunderstanding that transgender are misrepresenting themselves," said Thaler, who sat in on the hearing but did not represent Bruce. "The judge's ruling shows that he understands transgender people are being their true selves and not defrauding the public."

The suit also alleged City Clerk Stephanie Thomas tampered with voting machines and council candidate Kenny Ruffin campaigned at a city event.

"My concern was were the votes being counted correctly, and the procedures and the way they were counted," Fuller said.

Despite her signature on the lawsuit, Fuller said she had no concerns about Bruce's gender.

Harris declined to comment. King also declined to comment, but did say he worked on Fuller's campaign.

After the hearing, Bruce said she was disappointed by the personal attacks but planned to continue campaigning for the runoff.

"I feel vindicated, and it shows that special interest groups don't care about the citizens of Riverdale or their wishes," Bruce said. "I can't say it doesn't hurt. It does hurt."

The suit was heard Monday in Clayton County Superior Court, but the judges recused themselves and asked for an outside jurist to rule on the proceedings.


A
"I was analyzing a phenomenon I am seeing on the internet-- a proliferation of blogs in which the blogger identifies as a radical feminist, but does not seem to embrace the distinctives of radical feminism as we understand the term in the United States.And you know, I think it's okay if they do that, but I also think it's important to say what I said because otherwise (1) herstoric radical feminism gets erased; (2) people new to feminism never hear what herstoric radical feminism really was or is."~ Heart
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