Democrats slam Brooklyn GOP Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny over anti-trans comments
Republican Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny faces harsh criticism after railing against transgender people at a Brooklyn community board meeting on Thursday.
“Who knows what self-evident truths is. Who is boy? Who is girl?” Brook-Krasny, who immigrated from the Soviet Union decades ago, said after invoking the Declaration of Independence to Community Board 10.
“But I’m not going to go political. It is just absolutely incredibly wrong – wrong,” he added while ostensibly updating constituents on legislative issues.
A video of the comments attracted a scathing rebuke from Brooklyn Democrats, whose denouncement only grew stronger over the weekend after Brook-Krasny, who represents Coney Island, leaned on rightwing talking points to opine about the supposed dangers of trans people.
This included several social media posts where Brook-Krasny ranted about people who “conveniently change genders” alongside the purported “hyper-sexual” threat to children from Pride Month celebrations.
“Labeling trans-youth as un-American is the kind of rhetoric that contributes to tragically high rates of suicide ideation among trans & non-binary youth. Shameful that people of public trust would fuel that fire even more,” state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) tweeted in response to a video of his initial comments posted by Bay Ridge Democrats, a local political club.
Brook-Krasny also faced a rebuke from former Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus, who he unseated in 2022, as well as Assemblywoman JoAnne Simon, who represents areas of Brownstone Brooklyn to the north of his district based in relatively conservative Dyker Heights and Coney Island.
“Profoundly disappointed in you, Alec. I stand with the LGBTQIA+ community,” Simon tweeted.
“I know you know better & that this hateful rhetoric is demonstrably false. Trans youth are unAmerican? Your harmful words can have tragic consequences. You are in a position of public trust. Do better.”
But Brook-Krasny – who previously served in the Assembly as a Democrat before switching parties, is not backing down after sparking the criticism after speaking at the meeting about the recently passed state budget.
“I am fighting to protect our children, who are the future of this great nation. I will not be intimidated,” he tweeted Friday night.
Trans issues were on his mind following Assembly debate earlier this month on legislation that would make New York a so-called “safe haven” for out-of-state trans youth seeking gender-affirming medical services that are unavailable in their home states.
Some Republicans questioned their Democratic colleagues on how such an idea would work in practice if a legal guardian transports their trans child to New York despite disagreements on their medical care with another parent.
Brook-Krasny claimed on Monday that he has no problem with transgender people getting whatever medical care they want if they are legal adults.
But he told The Post that he believes trans children should have to wait until age 18 to transition into the gender they identify with despite Brook-Krasny’s championing the rights of parents in other circumstances.
“Let kids wait til they will make their own decision on this,” he said.