North Carolina Democrat apologizes after calling transgender opponent a man
“I referred to you using an incorrect gender pronoun. That was inaccurate and offensive, and not the way that I would conduct myself as chair of the North Carolina Democratic party.”
— Patsy Keever, vice chair of North Carolina’s Democratic Party, in a post to her Facebook page after she called her opponent for chair of the party, Janice Covington, a man at a public forum, New York Daily News reports.
Covington, who is transgender, was listing the various groups she represented as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2012, according to QNotes. “I ran as a senior citizen. I ran as a disabled vet. I ran as a woman. I ran as LGBT,” Covington told the forum. “And what did I leave out? There’s one more.”
Keever cut in with “a man,” to which Covington retorted, “There ain’t no man left in here, honey.” In a statement to QNotes, Covington called it, “a bigoted slur,” adding, “I am a proud transgender woman and for me to be violated in this way at a public forum by a leader of the party was completely out of line.”
Image Credit: North Carolina Democratic Party
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