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"People should not underestimate me," Sanders told the Associated Press in an interview that broke the news of his candidacy Wednesday night. In response to his difficulties convincing African-American voters, Sanders said, “Maybe I haven’t been as strong on this issue as I should be … we have a nation of massive wealth inequality … But within that inequality, we have another inequality, and that is racial disparity.Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving independent member of Congress, is officially seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, the Vermont senator announced in an email to supporters this morning. Day speech this year, Sanders’ claimed that “racial equality must be central to combating economic inequality.” And in a town hall last month with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Sanders seemed to admit that he hasn’t been strong on identity issues. His vocalness on trans issues is reflective of a new centering of identity in general in his 2020 candidacy. While Sanders has supported trans issues for years, this statement marks Sanders’ first support of trans issues on the campaign trail. Huck Gutman, Sanders’ former Chief of Staff, claimed in an interview with NPR that “ central concerns have never been war or civil rights or gay rights or women’s rights.” In addition, in 2016 Sanders said that Democrats must go “beyond identity politics,” characterizing a focus on identity as a distraction from the issue of economic inequality. Sanders’ campaign has previously downplayed identity and civil liberty issues in favor of economic ones. You’re interested in climate change, right? You’re interested in making college affordable, right?” Sanders post-scripted his statement with an admonition to the asker, saying that “we are in a very difficult moment in American history and there are many, many issues that are out there, and we’ve got to be thinking holistically. Sanders’ latest statement came in response to a question from an audience member, who said she backed candidates only if they supported a third-gender option on federal forms. Just last year, Sanders joined Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic congressmen in hanging a transgender pride flag outside his office. “The attacks against transgender people are part of a bigotry which has got to end,” Sanders wrote at the time. In 2015, Sanders condemned housing discrimination against trans people, a move that LGBT-interest publication The Advocate called “the biggest effort by any candidate to appeal to transgender voters and allies.” In 2017, Sanders tweeted a condemnation of the Trump administration’s reversal of Obama-era trans-inclusive bathroom school policy. The statement is continuous with Sanders’ previous support of trans rights. However, support at a federal level for non-binary identities has been non-existent there is no non-binary U.S. After a landmark 2016 Oregon case decided in favor of an intersex person’s right to identify as non-binary, 11 other states and Washington, D.C., have introduced third-gender options on government documents, including not-so-liberal states like Arkansas and Utah.
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State government recognition of non-binary identities has been spreading rapidly.
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“Everything that I’m talking about is trying to create a non-discriminatory society,” said Sanders in response to an audience member’s question, perhaps referring to his earlier comments on affordable housing, student debt and wealth inequality. “The answer is yes.” Sanders added, “Everything that I’m talking about is trying to create a non-discriminatory society.“- Annie Grayer May 28, 2019 In Concord, was asked if he would federally recognize a third gender. Bernie Sanders endorsed the federal recognition of non-binary identities, specifically the inclusion of a third-gender category on government-issued documents, during a Concord town hall Tuesday.