Woke culture and intolerance of differing views are chasing moderates out of the Democratic Party, a candidate for a Brooklyn congressional seat complained Monday.
“I’ve been cancelled! It’s cancel culture,” said Maud Maron, a former Legal Aid lawyer and president of the local school parent council who is running in a crowded Democratic primary in the 10th district, taking in brownstone Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.
A group of left-leaning and LGBTQ Democratic clubs denied Maron a chance to participate in a congressional forum Monday night because of a disagreement over transgender rights when it comes to sports.
The groups — Lambda Independent Democrats, New Kings Democrats, South Brooklyn United for Progressive and Equality — called Maron a bigot because among other things, she opposes having transgender women compete against biological women in competitive sporting events.
The groups said they didn’t want Maron to “spread hate and misinformation about gender identity” and sid her view could lead to the justification of “violence against transgender people, particularly transgender women.”
“We will not allow our forum to be used as a vehicle for Maud Maron to perpetuate dangerously false ideas about the transgender community. New Yorkers do not need representatives whose office will be used to hurt people,” they said.
But Maron said the group’s “extremist” organizers were the ones who were acting like intolerant bigots for denying her access to speak at the forum in Brooklyn Heights.
“The Democratic Party is chasing away moderate voters like me from the party. Find a backbone and have a conversation about the issue,” she said.
The debate, in part, is over whether transgender women have a competitive advantage over their biological peers after undergoing testosterone suppression.
Maron mentioned the case of Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who competed against biological women in college competitive swimming events.
“You can call a man a transgender woman but he’s still a man,” Maron said. “There’s nothing violent about sharing an opinion.”
Other candidates running in District 10 include former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Mondaire Jones, Manhattan Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, Brooklyn Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, and former Brooklyn Congresswoman and DA Liz Holtzman.
Maron, who has four children, resides in Soho.