Being classified as gender nonbinary could make it easier for him to become a delegate to the Democratic National Convention
West Hollywood Mayor John M. Erickson’s gender is classified as “GNB (gender nonbinary)” on an official list of potential district-level delegates for this year’s Democratic National Convention, according to documents published by CADEM (California Democrats) on Wednesday.
Erickson is not known to have identified as a nonbinary person before. He has, however, described himself publicly as a “gay man” on several occasions, most recently on the night of his inauguration in January. Erickson lists “he/him” as his pronouns on his X.com profile.
Identifying as nonbinary might improve his chances of being selected to attend the convention at United Center in Chicago this coming August, where he would personally cast a vote for President Joe Biden. The decision would potentially allow Erickson to circumvent what is typically a tough voting procedure based on gender quotas.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) mandates that delegate slates must be divided equally between men and women, and a slot is reportedly reserved for a nonbinary person. Delegates are allowed to self-identify their gender for purposes of this rule. This approach accommodates non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals, allowing for a more inclusive representation that goes beyond traditional gender binaries.
With the Democratic primary election over, each Congressional District is assigned a certain number of delegates, which varies based on the Democratic voting patterns in past elections. West Hollywood is in Congressional District 30.
Caucuses and meetings will be held to choose the actual individuals who will serve as delegates. These caucuses are usually organized by the candidates’ campaigns and are open to all registered Democrats.
The primary function of delegates is to officially nominate the Democratic candidate for president (i.e. Biden), but the DNC is a Super Bowl-level extravaganza attended by everyone who’s anyone in the party, from the country’s top leaders down to lowly municipal elected officials. It’s a place to see and be seen, to network and to get known.
The list of the applicants in District 30 below was released Wednesday. The cutoff date for any and all regular voters to go online and request a ballot is 5 p.m. today.
The are three others from the district on the list who are classified as GNB, including Rachel Bracker, a past president of the Westside Young Democrats, and Christine Jerian.
Jerian told WEHOonline that her classification was a mistake on CADEM’s part.
“I did not identify myself as GNB, so I wasn’t sure how CADEM chose that for me,” Jerian told us in an email. “I did request for CADEM to change my gender Identification, as I identify as she/her and they will be making that correction because I didn’t want to take away the opportunity from a candidate who truly identified as GNB.”
A total of 36 people on the list statewide identified as GNB.
WEHOonline contacted Mayor Erickson about this matter Thursday morning; he was out of town but we have emailed him questions as he asked us to do.
We reached out via e-mail to the California Democratic Party for clarification on the procedure described above, as well as to Bracker, one of the other GNB potential delegates.
We are awaiting all of their responses.
| Deborah Brosseau | F |
| Mara A. Cohen | F |
| Jessica Duboff | F |
| Kathryn Eisenstein | F |
| Marlene Esquivel | F |
| Sofia Goitiandia | F |
| Nga Huynh | F |
| Shanna Ingalsbee | F |
| Marie Lemelle | F |
| Heidi Mastrogiovanni | F |
| Nancy Padilla | F |
| Carla Rossi | F |
| Analisa Swan | F |
| Mary Yeko | F |
| Rachel Bracker | GNB |
| John M. Erickson | GNB |
| Christine Jerian | GNB |
| Carlos Medina Alcantara | GNB |
| Jacob Burman | M |
| Franky Carrillo | M |
| Jay Hassouna | M |
| Dimitri Keselman | M |
| Peter Kreysa | M |
| Manuel Magpapian | M |
| Kevin Meagher | M |
| Marco Meneghin | M |
| Phil D Mercado | M |
| Lisa Moore | M |
| Marcellino Morales | M |
| Thom O’Shaughnessy | M |
Any way the wind blows!
Not sure why this is shocking to anyone. Men usually don’t show up to city council meetings with pearls around their neck. This has been in process for a while now.
Erickson is calling the whole concept of gender non-binary into question if a gay man can so easily manipulate the concept to gain benefits in our screwed-up political system.
Hey it worked for Chelsea “I’m Queer” Byers when she claimed to be Queer while running for WeHO City Council.
🎯🎯🎯
If it gave him a leg up somewhere he self-identify as a ham sandwich.
Oh brother, what a joke. 🙄
In the toilet bowl of Democratic Party politics, the sh-t float to the top, unfortunately.
So true. We need a good flush.
Wonderful words candidate. How is this not being a mean girl and divisive? You are who you are. All of your babble about bringing community together is horsesh!t. Candidate, take a l9ng hard look in the mirror and realize who you are. A lying divisive petulant bully.
Do not personally know John, but he is at worst, an opportunist and at best, improving his skills at every chance (opportunity) he gets.
A true politician. (And that’s NOT a compliment)
Then he is in the right job.
If this is really true it should disqualify him as a delegate. Why can’t people just be honest? It doesn’t speak well for his integrity if he would take away a delegate opportunity from someone who really does identify as GNB.
“Identifying as nonbinary might improve his chances of being selected to attend the convention at United Center in Chicago this coming August, where he would personally cast a vote for President Joe Biden. “
Not sure if they have non-binary awareness day yet. Maybe He should just identify as trans. It’s all the rage. And he might even get invited to the White House.
The stuff that goes on in this city is unreal.
I’m sure it isn’t just in this City. It goes on everywhere.
Not like this. This is uniquely West Hollywood.
He’s a fraud. He’s whatever he needs to be to manipulate a situation to put himself in a position for personal gain. What’s worse, is that like it or not, he’s in a leadership roll and his fraud will take a spot from a well deserving truly gender non-binary person. This behavior is completely gross and totally inline with his behavior getting him to Paris.
Additional thought, I’m sending this Weho Online post to KTLA5, ABC7, NBC4, CBS2/KCAL, Stonewall Democratic Club, Equality CA, the Democratic National Committee and additional organizations. This bullshit needs to be addressed.
Evidence shows that you are right. Btw, it is role, not roll.