Trans political history was made on Tuesday night when Rosemary Ketchum was elected to the Wheeling, WV City Council by a mere 15 votes for the open Ward 3 seat. Incumbent councilmember Melinda Koslik declined to run for reelection
She defeated three other candidates. including second place finisher Peggy Niebergall to take the open seat, running on a platform to address affordable housing and opioid addiction. She was also supported by the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
"I am incredibly grateful to get the opportunity to represent my city," Ketchum said in a statement to CNN. "I hope that this election helps us push the needle in West Virginia so that we can fully embrace the power of culture, diversity, and representation in politics. I ran for office because I believe the job of an elected official is to reflect the values of their community in the actions of their leadership and that is why I am excited to serve."
The win made the 26 year old Ketchum the first out trans person in West Virginia and only the fourth TBLGQ person to hold public office in the state.
Ketchum is the associate director of NAMI of Greater Wheeling, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She has lived in Wheeling for over a decade, served on the board of ACLU West Virginia and is a member of Wheeling's Human Rights Commission.
Councilmember-elect Ketchum hopes that her election will be a big moment that opens eyes and hearts in West Virginia and the nation when it comes to transgender people
“I think trans people know they are capable of doing things like running for office and being elected. But I think it's much more important for the cisgender community, people who are not trans, to see that diversity is important and possible,” Ketchum said.
With the win, she joins a small but growing pool of 27 trans elected officials in the United States and takes office on July 1.
Congratulations Councilmember -elect Ketchum! Here's hoping that this is just the start of more amazing things in store for you, and that you'll be reelected to that seat when your term is up.
Four years ago today I was waking up at Ruby Corado's place in Washington DC. She and I were getting dressed in order to head to the White House to attend the White House Pride Reception that was starting at 2 PM EDT.
It was my fifth trip of the Obama Administration to the White House, but the first time I'd gotten an invite to be in the People's House for this event It was also extra special to be because I was getting to see a president shared my ethnic background while hanging out with many of the peeps in the movement.
There was also this air of sadness because this was the last one that President Obama would be presiding over' It added to my thankfulness and excitement that after missing the previous seven receptions, I was going to be able to attend it for the first time.
The sadness was exacerbated by those of us in attendance realizing this could be the last one for a while if for some convoluted reason our Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost to that racist orange grand wizard the Republicans nominated.
While it was a concern, we focused on the excitement of that day. As Ruby and I got in line at the Southeast Entrance to clear security in order to enter the White House, the fun began of seeing who else had been invited from outside the beltway and made it to DC.
I could invite a person to attend with me as a plus one, and since most of the DC area trans and SGL folks were already covered along with much of my Houston activist fam who could go, I chose Catalina Velasquez to be that person.
She thanked me when she spotted me in that long line, and after I saw Catalina, started spotting other TBLGQ peeps I knew.. We were also fortunate that it wasn't a typical muggy Washington DC late spring day while we waited to enter the White House.
I spotted Phillipe Cunningham, and it was while we were talking he told me he was going to run (successfully) for the Minneapolis City Council.
I ran into Fiona Dawson, and we finalized our plans for driving up I-95 later that evening to the Philly Trans Health Conference that had started the same day. I had a panel I was participating on Day 2 of that conference organized by Brynn Tannehill, and was looking forward to seeing everyone I knew that was there.
While I was happy that the reception was happening on the first day of the PTHC, it still meant I was going to miss the first day of that conference. But the opportunity to do a 139 mile detour from Philly to the White House for this event was way more important.
After clearing the multiple layers of security, I entered the People's House to be greeted by the amazing sight of the original trans pride flag in a glass case, and took a pic of if to show to Monica Helms later.
The people sighting started exponentially increasing as we were escorted to the East Room for the reception. I ran into Danielle and Aisha Moodie-Mills. I started seeing various members of Congress including then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
And while I was talking to Danielle and Aisha, somebody walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to discover it was Laverne Cox. We all started chatting, and that when I was spotted by Andrea Jenkins.
Andrea and I eventually stopped in front of Hillary Clinton's First Lady White House portrait to take a pic at the time in hopeful anticipation that she would be our next POTUS. I also said to her at the time, "I hope that you and Phillipe get to make history and serve on the Minneapolis City Council at the same time."
Hey, just call me Monidamus. I put it in the atmosphere, and it came true.
Let me put this in the atmosphere. . I hope trump loses in a landslide in November, the Republicans lose control of the US Senate, John Cornyn and Mitch McConnell are defeated, we get control of the Texas House, and the four Democrats women running for the Texas Supreme Court all win.
We also enjoyed the nice hot finger foods prepared for us like the mini Maryland crab cakes instead of the 'hamberders' Trump WH guests get before gathering in the East Room to see the man of the hour in President Barack Obama.
While we were disappointed that the First Lady couldn't be there, we were still happy to see the best president ever on trans issues (and LGB ones)
And just like that, once President Obama finished speaking, it was over, and it was time to depart the White House After chatting with a few more folks, I finally exited the White House with Ruby to finish packing up and getting ready to roll up I-95 north with Fiona.
We left the WH Pride reception that day hopeful that America was finally on the right track when it came to LGBTQ issues. Those of us who were part of the trans community had even more reason to be excited and hopeful because we knew for the first time since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane from Denmark, the federal government was on our side, and we had reasonable expectations that the forward trans rights progression would continue under a Clinton Administration.
We would find out 48 hours later just how much anti-TBLGQ hatred we would have to overcome in the United States to make this a more perfect union for our community when I was awakened in Philly that Sunday morning by Dionne Stallworth to the news of the Pulse mass shooting in Orlando. .
But that June 9, 2016 day was the start of an amazing weekend for me. A whirlwind weekend that took me from Houston to Washington DC, to Philly for the PTHC thanks to Fiona, the Philly Trans Health Conference, back to DC for Capital Pride, and home.
And today's Pride Reception anniversary reminded me how fast time not only flies, but how history and the course of it can change with one event.
History was made during the Illinois Democratic primary Tuesday night as the state of Illinois saw its first ever out trans person elected to public office.
65 year old attorney Jill Rose Quinn ran for a vacant seat on the Cook County Circuit Court. There were two other candidates running for the Democratic Party nomination in the primary for that seat, and Quinn won big with over 65% of the vote.
"It’s not just a victory for me, it’s a victory for everybody out there who’s marginalized, everybody who’s different, everybody who’s trans,” said Quinn in an interview.
Quinn was endorsed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), the Cook County Democratic Party and the LGBTQ Victory Fund. She was also rated qualified by 13 different local bar agencies in addition to drawing the top position on the ballot.
Mayor Lightfoot said in her endorsement of her,"Jill Rose Quinn has fought for fairness, equality and justice her entire life and her perspective and experience will be invaluable for our courts and our community.”
So she had a few things going her way in the runup to Election Night.
Because there was no Republican running in their primary for this seat, she will when the November 3 election happens be running unopposed for it and is assured of being elected..
On that night she will officially become the first out trans person elected to public office in the state of Illinois, only the fourth transgender judge in the nation, and the second elected one after Judge Vicky Kolakowski of California.
Judge-elect Quinn does recognize the importance of her win. In an interview that was conducted before Election Day, she said this as she reflected on her campaign:
“There are kids in this country killing themselves because they’re trans and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. They don’t see respect. They don’t see themselves portrayed as being people, not ordinary people, of course, because nobody’s ordinary, but they don’t see how great they can be," Quinn said. “So I think it’s important for them to see that you can survive, you can prosper, you can go to school, you can study hard. You can make your way, and you can be a judge."
Congratulations Judge Quinn for making history and being a possibility model to our kids.
If you follow me on social media, you may have seen posts referring to me as the Air Marshal, and wonder how I got that nickname. I'm about to tell you how.
I was still working in the airline biz when I started doing activism work on behalf of the trans community in 1998. There was also another Monica besides moi in the trans activism ranks who started at roughly the same time in then Phoenix based Monica Helms (as in trans pride flag creator Monica Helms).
Not only did we start getting into trans activism at roughly the same time, our writing styles were close enough in tone that people frequently mixed us up in online forms.
To make it clear in online communication which Monica a comment was being directed at or which one of us Monicas was talking in a comment thread, because Helms served in the Navy, she became known as Monica of the Sea, or Sea Monica for short. Because I was in the airline biz, I became known as Monica of the Air, or Air Monica.
Since I also had as a decade long airline employee the perk of free standby air travel and other discounts to go with it, I quickly became the national trans community's rapid response person when we needed an immediate trans physical presence on short notice for meetings, protests or lobbying efforts at the federal, state or local level.
Since we called trailblazing leader Phyllis Frye 'The General' because of her time in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and the Army, as the newbie Texan to the trans activism community and her mentee, I received the nickname from Polar of 'The Air Marshal.
Air Marshal is a senior three star rank in Great Britain's Royal Air Force, and because I also became when the national Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) was founded in 1999 their Lobby Chair/ Political Director tasked with developing trans public policy, the Air Marshal nickname fit and stuck.
I liked the Air Marshal nickname better at the time than the one that I was being called by racist vanillacentric privileged TS separatists, Darth Maul.
I actually grew to love that Darth Maul nickname so much that when I won my IFGE Trinity Award in 2006 (becoming the third African American trans person to win it after Dawn Wilson and Marisa Richmond), I was going to enter the hotel ballroom in Philly where they were having the IFGE convention award ceremony to the Imperial March.
That's a story for another time. Back to the Air Marshal one.
So when you see me post on FB that 'the Air Marshal has landed' , it's basically a nod to my early days as an activist and acknowledging that being my kind of trans activist has at times involved lots of air travel.
Earlier this year Jazell Harvey became the first Black person ever to win the Miss International Queen trans pageant in its 15 year history.
While we have had since the Miss Universe system opened their doors to trans women in 2013, several trans women from around the globe have attempted to make it to the Miss Universe pageant stage,. starting with Canada's Jenna Talackova.
The only one so far that has successfully done so, although she didn't make it to the 15 semifinalist round, has been Miss Spain Universe 2018 Angela Ponce.
We have had trans women from Canada, Mongolia, Chile and Norway make it to their national pageant stages. Trans women in China, Belgium, Brazil and Puerto Rico fell short of making it to their national pageant stage.
None of those trans contestants attempting to make it to a Miss Universe stage or compete in a US state pageant has been Black until now.
Taj Jackson is the person who attempt to do so, and she couldn't have picked a tougher pageant challenge. The Miss Inglewood delegate is competing in the Miss California Universe 2020 pageant, which sends its winner to the Miss USA one and is part of the Miss universe pageant system.
Miss California Universe along with Miss Texas Universe are considered two of the toughest state pageants to win and qualify for Miss USA in because both have more than 200 contestants competing in them. That is triple the number of contestants Miss Universe has had in recent years.
Miss Universe 2019 only had 90 contestants in this year's pageant won by South Africa's Zozibini Tunzi.
These pageants also have a proud history of sending their winners on to Miss USA and Miss Universe glory. Miss Texas USA and Miss California USA also rank numbers one and two in terms of the number of winners of their respective pageant who have gone on to win Miss USA
A Miss Texas USA has won nine times, with a streak of five consecutive winners in the 1980's. Miss California Universe has had six women win Miss USA.
Jackson won't be the first out trans woman to ever compete in Miss California Universe. That distinction already belongs to Kylan Wenzel, who competed back in 2013.
But Taj is undaunted by the odds, and proud of the history she is making as the first out Black trans contestant at any Miss Universe system pageant in the US and across the Diaspora..
As Miss Inglewood, Taj is looking for fiscal sponsors as the January 26 date of this Miss California 2020 pageant rapidly approaches.
Good luck to you Taj and here's hoping you make history.
"My whole life has been a fight. From being bullied at school consistently, kids threatening to kill me and going into graphic detail how they were going to do it, my own father beating me and calling me a f****t, to receiving industry blowback after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted on the job... This was a victory that made all of that s*** worth it."-Teddy Quinlivan
Another day, another instance of trans folks winning despite the hostile forces arrayed against us.
Meet 25 year old model Teddy Quinlivan. She has walked runways for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci before coming out as trans in 2017.
Like many folks who have lived non disclosed trans lives (AKA stealth) before coming out, the Boston born Quinlivan thought her career might be over after doing so, but as Geena Rocero found out after coming out, it is starting to lead to more groundbreaking opportunities, not less.
She has continued to walk Fashion Week runways, appear on magazine covers like Porter Magazine and L'Officiel, and do beauty campaigns for Redken, Milk Makeup and Maison Margiela Fragrances.
But the one she recently landed is historic and deeply personal for her. Quinlivan has now become the first openly trans model to be hired by Chanel to helm a beauty campaign.
I had walked 2 shows for Chanel while I was living in stealth (stealth meaning I hadn’t made my trans identity public yet) and when I came out I knew I’d stop working with some brands, I thought I’d never work with the iconic house of Chanel ever again," she wrote. "But here I am in Chanel Beauty Advertising. I am the first openly trans person to work for the house of Chanel, and I am deeply humbled and proud to represent my community."
Congratulations Teddy! It's is not only a huge win for you personally, but one for the trans community as well. It's just more evidence that coming out as trans doesn't mean the end of your dreams.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the day that Monica Helms, while she was living in Arizona, created the original trans pride flag that now rests in the Smithsonian.
The flag is made up of five stripes. Two baby blue, which represents the masculine and the traditional color of baby boys. Two pink stripes represent the feminine as the traditional color of baby girls, and the white center stripe that represents gender non conforming and folks who are transitioning.
It is also designed so that no matter which way it is flown, it is always correct. That symbolizes according to Helms, how we're always trying to find completeness in our lives.
On this same August 19 day in 2015, Helms donated the original trans pride flag to the Smithsonian where it was displayed at the last White House Pride Reception in June 2016.
That Helms Trans Pride flag first flew publicly at a pride parade in Phoenix, AZ in 2000 and since then has become over these last 20 years the widely accepted flag representing the international trans community .
That has been demonstrated by the creation of ginormous trans pride flags by groups in Mexico City and Palm Springs, CA which held the previous record for the largest trans pride flag ever created, and now the current record holders in Los Angeles
That flag, created for the LA Resist pride march in June 2017 is 25 feet 6 inches by 160 feet (7.8 meters by 48.7 meters).
Happy Trans Pride Flag day! Thanks Sea Monica for being inspired to create it.
It came after their stock price dropped 40%, they had to close 53 stores across the USA, their CEO Jan Singer resigned, they announced they aren't doing the televised Victoria's Secret fashion show after it had it's worst ratings ever, and lost model Karlie Kloss over chief marketing office Ed Rezek's transphobic comments.
Congrats to Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, who was just hired as their first out trans model.
The 22 year old Sampaio is no stranger to blazing trails in the modeling industry. She was the first out trans model to ever grace the cover of French Vogue and the first to do so for Brazilian Vogue in her native Brazil.
And now she become the first trans angel, as Vickie's Secret calls their models.
Will they be hiring more trans models to rip their runways? And when the Victoria's Secret Fashion show comes back on TV after its retooling, will a diverse group of models be part of it?
That remains to be seen if it happens.
But congrats to Valentina Sampaio for making that breakthrough. Hope it leads to many more trans models getting a shot to wear those Victoria's Secret angel wings.
I first met Sarah McBride back during the 2012 NBJC Out on the Hill event when she was a White House intern and I was visiting the Obama White House for an all day policy briefing.
After being pleasantly surprised pleased to see a girl like us Obama White House intern, I made a mental note to keep up with her because I felt at the time she was destined to do some great things for our community and our country.
My intuition about her turned out to be right on target. Sarah went on after completing that White House internship to do some amazing things.
She was hired by HRC to become its national press secretary. In 2013 she helped pass her home state of Delaware's statewide trans non discrimination law, and received the Delaware Order of the First State for her efforts to do so from former Gov. Jack Markell.
She became the first out trans person to make a political convention stage speech when she did so during the 2016 DNC convention in Philadelphia.
And now Sarah McBride is attempting to become a Delaware state senator in 2020.
She recently announced her candidacy for a recently vacated state senate seat, and if she's successful, she will become the first out trans person to ever be elected as a state senator.
But her run will focus on the issues facing her potential constituents, not her trans identity.
"At the end of the day, I'm not running to be a transgender state senator, I'm running to be a senator who serves her community, I'm running to be a senator who fights for affordable health care, I'm running to be a senator who works to expand access to paid leave and reform our broken criminal justice system," McBride told local radio station WDEL. "Those will be my priorities."
She's running for the Delaware 1st District seat formerly held by Harris McDowell (D-Wilmington North) He was Delaware's longest serving state senator, having been first elected to the chamber in 1976.
McDowell announced his retirement on June 30, the last day of the 2019 legislative session, and capping a 44 year career.
I'm already enthusiastically giving her a 2020 TransGriot endorsement for this position. I'm also hoping this happens for her, her potential constituents and our community.
"What an honor a pride to be part of the history of @missuniverse. This is for you, for those who have no visibility, no voice, because we all deserve a world of respect, inclusion and freedom. And today I am here, proudly representing my nation, all women and human rights." -Angela Ponce
While she wrote those words on her Instagram page in Spanish, they were clearly understood all over the world.
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The eyes on much of the world were turned to Bangkok and the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant to see if Angela Ponce could become the first ever trans feminine Miss Universe.
And yeah, admit it. Some of you were tearing up like I was when she made that solo walk on the Miss Universe stage last night to a standing ovation. .
Heavy favorite Catriona Gray of the Philippines was one of the last two women standing onstage at Miss World two years ago and didn't win. The 24 year old had a much happier result this time, becoming the fourth Filipina to capture the crown
While Ponce didn't make it to the Top 20 semifinalists, can't say enough how proud I am, trans feminine kids, and trans women around the world are that a girl like us was repping her country and us in the world's premiere beauty pageant.
Yes, elements of you hate on trans feminine women for irrational reasons. Elements of you also hate on beauty pageants for a lot of reasons.
For the trans feminine people who compete in them, pageants are a way to have who we are and have always known ourselves to be affirmed to the entire world.
Many trans feminine pageant contestants have been standing a lot taller this week knowing that a girl like us achieved a dream many of them had to one day compete in a premiere pageant like Miss Universe.
Trans women around the world were also standing a little taller as well.
Angela Ponce shook off the haters and represented us with class and dignity from the moment she won Miss Spain in June to competing in Miss Universe. And while we didn't get to see trans history made on that Bangkok stage last night. it's just a matter of time before some trans girl walks away from a future Miss Universe pageant with the crown.
And note to the willfully ignorant haters out there, trans women are women.
Ponce said in the runup to the pageant, "I don't need to win, I just need to be here."
But by just being in this year's Miss Universe competition and being on stage, you won in so many ways not only for yourself, but an entire community. It also by you being on stage expands the horizons for what trans feminine kids can dare to dream about and accomplish.
Ms. Ponce blazed a trail and set a standard that a future trans Miss Universe winner must acknowledge when she does win that title
On October 12 Tracey Nadzieja was sworn in as a commissioner in the Maricopa County Superior Court. That made her the first trans judge in the state of Arizona and only the third ever in the United States.
In case you're wondering who the other two are, they are Phyllis Frye here in Houston and Vicky Kolakowski in California.
“That’s the weird thing about doing this. Yes, I’m the first, and that’s a story,” Nadzieja said in an interview. “But on the other hand, what I had basically hoped going into this job is that people won’t see that part of the story. That the whole transgender part of the story will ultimately become an absolute non-issue. That people will just see me as somebody who is competent, fair, dedicated and just like anybody else.”
Still, Nadzieja becoming a judge is a tremendous point of pride to the Arizona trans community. She is also ascending to a judicial bench at a time when the trans community is under assault from the Trump misadministration.
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