Danielle Skidmore Gets Endorsed By Texas Equity PAC

Danielle Skidmore is one of the wave of trans candidates in this 2018 election cycle who are   #TransformingPolitics by running for various offices across the country and making history in some cases while doing so..

Skidmore is running for the District 9 seat on the Austin City Council, taking on incumbent Councilmember Kathie Tovo, who has been there since 2011.

Some good news in this ongoing Austin city council race for her. 

She has been endorsed by the Texas Equity PAC, the political action committee for Equality Texas.  The Texas Equity PAC seeks to elect pro-equality candidates like Danielle in local and state races.

Danielle was obviously thrilled to get the endorsement, and had this to say about it.

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of a group that has supported Mary González and so many others who inspire my fight for equality. We have a chance to make history here in Texas, but can't do it without the support of every day Texans contributing what they can to carry us to victory!" 

Danielle is not accepting PAC money for this council race, so if you wish to support her, you can send donations for her campaign via this link.

Here's hoping I hear some more good news from the ATX concerning her campaign on November 6.

Trudie Jackson Attempting A Historic Run For Navajo Nation President

I’ve heard some remarks that Navajo women should not be leaders, but I know that we live in a time where every Navajo person is needed to fight for the survival of our Nation.  Navajo women do have a place in politics, in the world of business, in education, in law and the judicial system, and it is time for Navajo women to take their place of leadership. 

-LeNora Fulton, 1998 Address, 1998 Navajo Nation Presidential Candidate,
2nd Navajo woman to run for President of the Navajo Nation.

In a year in which trans people are continuing to step up around the country and run for political office, this shouldn't surprise me that one of my Native American trans fam is deciding it is time for her to step up and lead her people.

The Navajo Nation covers the corners of the states of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, and at 27,673 square miles of territory (nearly the size of the state of West Virginia) and over 350,000 people as of 2016, it is the largest reservation in the United States. 

Since 1991, the Navajo People have elected a president for their nation,  and the date to officially file and run is May 17 with a closing date of May 30.   One of the people who is attempting to get on the ballot for the August 28 primary election is Trudie Jackson, a longtime advocate from Arizona who is Native American and trans.

***

Ya'tah - my name is Trudie Jackson and my clans are: Bitterwater and Folded Arms, then the Mexican and Yucca-Strung-Out-In-A-Line from Teec Nos Pos, AZ on the beautiful Navajo Nation. I am a product of Indian Boarding School and Indian Student Placement Program.
Upon relocating to Phoenix, AZ in 1984 to pursue my high school education at the Phoenix Indian School, I decided to stay in Phoenix which lead to 34 years. Ultimately, my experience as an urban Navajo taught me many life lessons of learning to survive in urban spaces. I have learned so much and challenged myself to walk into spaces, which at times, meant being the only American Indian to advocate and be the voice for my community as a proud Dine'.
Over the course of years, I have stood on the sidelines and made my observations of the political climate on the Navajo Nation by elected tribal leaders of what they propose as their platform to lift the Navajo Nation as an effective leader that leads for the betterment of the Navajo Nation.

I can not continue to stand on the sideline and allow the ongoing unethical practices by elected tribal officials to 'take from the people' and fill their pockets and/or luxury lifestyles. If I continue to stand on the sideline, I am just adding more fuel and allowing it to continue without interjection. Enough is enough!

With that said, I have decided to enter the race for the 2018 Navajo Nation Presidential Election. I want my people to judge me on my leadership skills and qualities. I would like to bring home the knowledge that I have learned and gained whiled residing off the Navajo reservation and help lift My People to create a better place, which we can all call, "home."

I ask for your support, as a candidate for the 2018 Navajo Nation Presidential Election to help me get on the ballot with any amount of contribution. Your generous donation is greatly appreciated. Ahe'hee, Trudie

***

If Trudie is successful in getting on the ballot and getting through the primary election, we would have to wait until November 6 to see if Trudie makes history and becomes the first female president of the Navajo Nation. 

Two other Navajo women have attempted what Trudie is trying to accomplish. Here's hoping she succeeds and makes that history.

Honduran Trans Woman Running For Seat In Honduran Congress

Trans women all over the world are stepping up to run for office in their various nations in large part because we recognize that we must be at the table helping to write the laws that govern us.

Running for office is happening even in nations with a history of being violently hostile to our existence.   Rihanna Ferrera is the latest trans Honduran to attempt to get elected to her nation's national legislative body in their upcoming November 26 elections.

Ferrera is running to represent the department of Francisco Morazan which contains the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa as a candidate for the center-left United Social democratic and Innovation (PINU) Party.  Honduran trans women have made two previous attempts in 2012 to get elected to the Honduran Congress.

Ferrera is also the co-founder of the Asociacion Cozumel Trans, a trans advocacy organization based in Tegucigalpa

Claudia Spellman and Victoria Gomez both attempted to do so that year as LIBRE Party candidates, but subsequently had to seek asylum in the US and Spain after receiving death threats. 

28 year old Kendra Stefany Jordany recently became in March the first trans Honduran to win a party primary in the nation, and is trying to get elected as a representative to the Central American Parliament  which is based in Guatemala City, Guatemala

Ferrera, should she be successful, would become not only the first trans Honduran elected to the national congress, she would also become the first trans person in North America. the seventh in the world and only the third in the Western Hemisphere to be elected to her national legislature

Bigot Bob Marshall 'Scurred' To Debate Danica Roem In VA Legislative Race

The Virginia state elections are happening on November 7, and if you live in the Commonwealth of Virginia and haven't handled your electoral business, bust a move and handle it before it's too late.

Been interesting to see 32 year old Danica Roem make her historic bid to become the first out trans person in the US to get elected to a state legislature and become the first to do so since Althea Garrison was elected to the Massachusetts state legislature in 1990.

Roem is taking on District 13 long time incumbent Del. Bob Marshall (R), who is a longtime enemy of the TBLGQ community and has justifiably earned the nickname he hates in 'Bigot Bob'.

The 73 year old Marshall is a prime example of what I'm talking about when I say that the most dangerous bigot is the one who has the power to write legislation.  

He sponsored Virginia's anti-gay marriage ban that was approved by a majority of Virginia voters in 2006 and was in effect until it was struck down in federal court and has been a longtime champion of anti- TBLGQ causes.  

In 2015 he tried to get a bill passed that would have legalized discrimination against Virginia's TBLGQ community in hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, government agencies and businesses.

In this recent legislative session he sponsored Virginia's attempt to pass an anti-trans bill modeled on North Carolina's HB 2 that thankfully died.

Marshall, who have been in the Virginia House of Delegates since 1992 representing this northern Virginia district that covers Prince William and Manassas counties, has been a proud foe of our community.

So it's hypocritical that  Marshall is now crying crocodile white tears because he's being called 'Bigot Bob' while in the same breath, his transphobic behind is misgendering his Democratic opponent and refusing to debate her.

I guess when you've been so busy using your legislative power to oppress people, it doesn't leave you time to learn what the actual issues are that affect your district, huh?

Good luck trying to use her trans feminine status to 'scurr' people into voting for you.   She's already winning the fundraising battle by a 5-1 margin at the local, state and national levels because there are a lot of people, especially in the TBLGQ community that want you gone.

It would be exceedingly delicious to me as a trans woman to see on November 7 Bigot Bob get taken down by a trans woman.   Danica has definitely demonstrated in the primary campaign that she handily won over four opponents and in this general election campaign that she does have a keen grasp of those issues, and that's probably why he's avoiding her.

Bigot Bob can run, but he can't hide forever, and he will have to face Danica Roem sooner or later. He can either do it now, or when he's making his concession speech on November 7

Another group of people he'll have to face on November 7 is the voters of District 13, which went solidly for Clinton in last year's presidential election