Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness

Did you know that if you want to represent your block in Brooklyn as a local elected official, you have to mark a gender designation—and the only options are “male” and “female”? This week on Getting Curious, Jonathan is speaking with Jesse Pierce and Samy Nemir Olivares, both elected District Leaders in Brooklyn, all about this gender rule: how it came into existence, why it’s exclusionary, and how we can work to make local seats across Brooklyn and the country more inclusive and equitable. Jesse Pierce is a non-binary queer elected Democratic District Leader in Brooklyn's 52nd Assembly District. They focus on hyper local political grassroots organizing as a means to transform our politics both locally and nationally. Samy Nemir Olivares (he/they) is a Puerto Rican-Dominican, queer activist, writer, communicator and District Leader in Brooklyn. Samy advocates for gender, racial and social justice through politics, media and education. Samy works for a national nonprofit for LGBTQ civil rights and produced