Transgender candidate running for Conn. governor

Jacey Wyatt from Branford, who grew up as John Christian Pascarella before undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2003, is running for governor as a Democrat. Jacey Wyatt from Branford, who grew up as John Christian Pascarella before undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2003, is running for governor as a Democrat. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Transgender candidate running for Conn. governor 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Jacey Wyatt doesn’t conform to labels the way most politicians do.

She has run for local office in Branford, Conn. as a Republican and a third-party petitioning candidate.

Wyatt, who grew up as John Christian Pascarella before undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2003, is running for governor as a Democrat.

“I don’t care if people are wondering what I have under my pants,” Wyatt told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday. “My body obviously does not look like a typical politician.”

But Wyatt, 46, a former model who was born an intersex person, said she is not running to be the face of transgender rights. Nor is she looking to take sides in the ongoing clash between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and President Donald Trump’s administration over restroom laws, she said.

“I’m not just going to be the advocate,” Wyatt said. “I’m running to be the solution for all people.”

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Making Connecticut more friendly to businesses so companies such as General Electric don’t move their global headquarters to Boston is her primary objective, said Wyatt, who registered her candidate committee Friday with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

“This state deserves a lot better,” said Wyatt, who has worked in retail and architecture, but is now the primary caregiver for her mother, who suffered a stroke,

Malloy’s office declined to comment Monday on Wyatt. Malloy, a Democrat, is undecided about making a 2018 re-election bid.

Malloy has been a strident critic of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on LGBT matters. Last month, he blasted the White House when it rescinded guidelines set by the Obama administration directing public schools to let transgender students use the bathroom of their choice.

The White House maintains policies like the North Carolina bathroom bill, which prohibits people from entering bathrooms that do not match the sex on their birth certificates, should be left up to states to determine. Malloy has called Trump’s stance discriminatory.

Wyatt disagreed, saying she supports protections for the LGBT community, but Malloy shouldn’t be meddling into the policies or cultural norms of other states.

“Don’t worry, me and Trump will be fine together,” Wyatt said. “Because I’m transgender, I’m not allowed to support Trump? They need to focus on this state. They’re not the president. They’re not running North Carolina. There’s different moral issues in the South.”

In 2011, Wyatt ran unsuccessfully for tax collector in Branford, which is east of New Haven, as a Republican. In 2013 and 2015, she ran for first selectman as a third-party petitioning candidate, but did not get elected.

This time, Wyatt said she reached out to both state party chairmen, J.R. Romano of the Republicans and Nick Balletto of the Democrats, to inform them of her plans to run for governor. She will try to qualify for public funding under the state’s clean-elections program, which requires gubernatorial candidates to raise $250,000 in small contributions.

“As someone who’s dealing with multiple candidates, I can certainly understand why so many Democrats are unhappy with Dan Malloy as their standardbearer,” Romano said. “I said, ‘Welcome to the race.’”

A state Democratic Party spokesman declined to comment.

Wyatt said she born with “both sexes,” but has always identified as a woman.

“I grew up with Barbies,” Wyatt said. “I didn’t go to the bathroom at the school. I went home.”

Wyatt said she was fortunate to have the money and support to undergo gender reassignment surgery at the University of Connecticut, including breast augmentation and hormone therapy.

“I’m a legal female,” Wyatt said. “I will never, ever, ever have a situation that I can’t go to the bathroom in North Carolina. (But) there’s somebody that maybe can’t afford what I had done.”

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