Minnesota Republican State Legislator Unleashes Anti-Trans Tweet

Not everyone in the Land of 10,000 Lakes thought that Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham's historic Minneapolis City Council seat wins were something wonderful to celebrate. 

Minnesota state Rep.Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) did what Republicans do and deployed the anti-trans hatred when asked about it.

On Wednesday she unleashed this transphobic Tweet from her now deactivated account.

The Minnesota LGBTQ Legislative Caucus quickly fired back in a letter to their transphobic colleague

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It is a shame to read on social media a statement by a public official that perpetuates a false and pejorative stereotype about transgender people.

We encourage our colleague, Representative Mary Franson, to get the facts and to get to know transgender people herself. She will quickly learn that, as the American Psychological Association says, being transgender is not a mental illness. Problems arise for transgender people from lack of support and acceptance that creates the path for discrimination, and all too often assault, that almost all transgender people experience at one time or another. When leaders who hold positions of respect casually trade in negative comments about transgender people, some interpret that as an invitation to treat their fellow Minnesotans poorly.

Our job as state legislators and policy makers is to ensure that there is as much opportunity as possible in Minnesota so that all people can pursue their dreams and aspirations. Putting barriers in place for anyone, doing active harm to our own neighbors, is antithetical to our country’s core values – a place where everyone is free and everyone is equal. We all are better off when people are able to contribute the best of themselves in every Minnesota community.

We celebrate that two transgender people, Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins, both with deep and broad experience, have stepped up to public service and won election to the Minneapolis City Council. In Virginia, we are delighted to welcome the first transgender member of a state legislature elected as an out transgender person, Danica Roem. We know that they all will serve their constituents with distinction and hard work.

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Minnesota DFL Chair Ken Martin also called Franson out:

“Minnesota made history Tuesday night. Voters elected the first two openly transgender African-American candidates to City Council in the nation. Republican Representative Franson’s hurtful remarks attempt to cheapen this historic victory and take the wind out of the sails of equality. We won’t let that happen,”

“In the face of divisive rhetoric at the national level, Minnesotans are doubling down in our efforts to ensure the diversity of our government reflects the diversity of our people. We are immensely proud of Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham. We know they will work tirelessly to serve the people they represent equally and without prejudice, unlike Representative Franson.”

***

Haters gotta hate.   Franson, sensing a backlash developing around her tweets, issued a non apology for it later.

Wouldn't be the first time a Republican hated on a trans woman for their own political gain, and probably won't be the last until they start losing their legislative seats with more frequency like Bigot Bob Marshall did in Virginia.

Councilmembers-elect Andrea Jenkins and  Phillipe Cunningham getting elected is a big deal to me, their constituents in Wards 4 and 8,  the DFL Party, to every Black trans person in the nation and everyone else inspired by their #BlackTransExcellence.

MAJOR! Screening and Panel Discussion November 20

I had the pleasure of meeting the legendary Miss Major Griffin-Gracy back in 2012 when I was the keynote speaker for the TransSaints conference in Charlotte

In addition to getting to know our trans elder and hear her tell me her stories about being a trans human rights warrior in a much more regressive time period, I've had the pleasure of seeing her at other events over the last few years including BTAC.

And I get the pleasure of having her call to check in on me from time to time as a bonus.   Even better, she's not too far away in the Little Rock, AR area..

While I've seen the film, I'm still pleased and proud to be in the house for the Houston premiere of MAJOR! at the University of Houston. from 6-9 PM CST.

The screening is sponsored by Transform Houston, and will take place in the Agnes Arnold Auditorium 2.   It will be followed by a panel discussion that includes Jessica Zyrie, Fran Watson and some blogger y'all know. 

Address is 3553 Cullen Blvd and hope to see y'all in the house for the film and the discussion afterward.

ACA 2018 Enrollment Off To Strong Start

Despite the efforts of the Trump Administration to sabotage the Affordable Care Act by shortening the enrollment period from November 1-December 15, cutting the advertising budget  90% and cutting funding for the Navigator program from $62.4 million to 36.8 million, ACA enrollment during the first four days has soared.

According the federal and state officials, over 600,000 signed up for ACA coverage from November 1-4, far outpacing last year's signup rate.  200,000 people signed up on November 1, the first day open enrollment started. 

1 million people have visited the official federal government website HealthCare.gov, and that was a 33% increase in traffic on the site compared to 2016.

The 2017 ACA enrollment in November and December 2016 spiked upward in large part because Trump unexpectedly won the presidency and fears about the future of the landmark healthcare legislation signed into law by President Obama in 2010.

Nearly a quarter of the people signing up for 2018 ACA overage were first time enrollees, while the rest were renewing their coverage. 

While that is wonderful news to the people and organizations who support the Affordable Care Act and  who are working diligently to ensure that every American has affordable health coverage, that news is probably not sitting well with an administration that is trying to kill the ACA.   

We will also have to wait and see if the early rush of people to sign up for 2018 ACA plans actually translates to people being enrolled for 2018.   You are not considered enrolled until the first month's premium is paid after you select a plan.

Speaking of enrollment, the clock is inexorably ticking toward that December 15 deadline to sign up for 2018 ACA coverage.   There are organizations standing by to help you find a plan that fits you budget and gives you the coverage that you need, but you do need to make that happen as soon as possible.

Happy Veterans Day 2017 Trans Vets!

I have much love and respect for our trans vets as people who have not only served in our military, once they left the service, they took those leadership lessons they learned in the military to help build our community and advance our human rights .

So on this 2017 edition of Veterans Day, which is occurring at a time the Chump Trump Administration wants to keep trans people from serving in the biggest baddest military on our planet,  I want to say thank you to all the 15,500 trans siblings currently on active duty across the planet, and those who spent time in the various branches of the service doing their part to serve our country.



While others revile you, I am inspired by you.   I am deeply appreciative of the fact that because of you, I have the freedoms I do to not only live my unapologetically out and proud trans life, I get to call people out on a regular basis up to and including the POTUS and not be jailed for it (yet).

You know as I do that when a socially reviled group gains acceptance in military circles, the advancement of their human rights in American society swiftly follows.  It's why I stand with you in opposing Trump's military ban and the conservafools are desperately trying to enact it.

Some of you are blazing trails within our military and reaching new leadership heights within the various service branches.   Others of you are doing the educating and advocacy work inside the military about what we trans folks can do while serving our country. 

Thank you also for taking the time to be leaders in our community.  Some of you blazed trails while doing so.  You created our pride flag.  You helped organize conferences that set the parameters on how we talk about and advocate for our issues and organized lobby days.   You founded organizations that pushed the trans human rights agenda forward.  Others of you through bold actions took down unjust anti-0trans laws and policies.

And many of you trans vets continue to do so today. 
 

Happy Veterans Day!   Thank you for your service to our country and our community.  You are #TransExcellence personified

Why Is The Son of The Pearland ISD Superintendent A White Supremacist?

You longtime TransGriot readers are aware that I have no love for Dr John Kelly, the transphobic and homophobic superintendent of the Pearland Independent School District who has not only been hating on PISD transkids like Kai Shappley, he took time out of his busy schedule to lobby for passage of the unjust SB 6 back in March.

Meet John Kelly's son Patrick Christian Kelly.

Seems young Mr.. Kelly is even more extreme than his PISD superintendent daddy, and made it clear via his Facebook page how he feels about a wide variety of peeps who don't look like him and his father who is paid big bucks to ensure that all kids who live in the Pearland ISD get a good education

Was sent these screenshots of some of Patrick's hateful rhetoric by two of my TransGriot readers that live in PISD  that he proudly posted on his Facebook page.

Needless to say I'm appalled at the reprehensible racist comments expressed by someone whose middle name ironically is Christian, but is anything but that.   And in case you're wondering, yep, he's a transphobe, too

Hmm, I wonder when the next Pearland ISD school board meeting is happening?

 That will taking place Pearland area parents and interested parties on November 28

I'm sure that the parents. taxpayers and board members in the increasing diverse Pearland ISD and city of Pearland have some questions about why the son of their superintendent is posting such off the charts white supremacist hate speech?

We'll see what happens later this month.

TransGriot Update:  Things are happening fast.   Patrick Kelly's FB page has been taken down, and a special PISD board meeting has been called for noon on November 17 

Wesley Muhammad Bringing His Hate Speech To Houston

"This man and this event is an assault on Black manhood! Cancel this event. Hate is not welcome in Houston."
-Ashton P. Woods

No this ignorant fool isn't coming to my Houston backyard to peddle his divisive bullshyt

After not learning his lesson in a city he couldn't even spell  and having to move the event to a Wilmington, DE Nation of Islam Muhammad mosque in that city once the Philly community got wind of it, 'Dr' Wesley Muhammad is bringing his special brand of transphobic hate speech to the S.H.A.P.E. Community Center on November 17 and 18.

Not only is Muhammad trying to peddle his TBLGQ hate speech here in H-town, he's charging people $25-$35 to walk through the doors of the S.H.A.P.E. Center  to hear it.

Naw Wesley, changing the title of it from 'How To Make A Homosexual; The Scientific Assault On Black America' to 'Chemical Feminization and the Assault on Black Manhood' isn't going to stop my Black trans azz from bringing the wrath of Moni and the rest of progressive Houston upon you.

You thought they were rough on you in Philadelphia?  You ain't seen nothing yet. 

What's even more odious is this hate event is happening during the week we memorialize 21 murdered trans people during the Transgender Day of Remembrance  on November 20, of which 17 of those murder trans people are African American. (16 Black trans women, one Black trans man)

No hate in my Houston backyard!.  Unless it gets canceled, my Black  trans azz  is planning to be there at 3903 Almeda Road to protest it.

So tell me S.H.A.P.E.Community Center  and Deloyd Parker.   How does hosting this Wesley Muhammad hate event fit in with your mission statement? 

Just a reminder of what it says:

'To improve the quality of life for people of African descent  (all people) through programs and activities with an emphasis on Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith'

It doesn't. In fact it will be counterproductive to that mission statement. 

So how about doing the city of Houston and the Black community a favor not allowing this hate speech laden event and Wesley Muhammad to darken the doors of the S.H.A.P.E. Community Center period?   

Transgender Veterans Fought For Your Right To Hate Them

One of the things that I discovered when I transitioned and became a member of several trans support and social groups was the large number of veterans in them.

Trans people have always served our country.  In fact trans people are twice as likely to serve our country at a higher rate than our cisgender counterparts.  Christine Jorgensen was a US Army vet, and many of our trailblazing leaders like Phyllis Frye, Monica Helms, Amanda Simpson, Brynn Tannehill, and Logan and Laila Ireland, all have in common in addition to being trans having served or are currently serving in the US Armed Forces.

They have served in peacetime and fought in our country's wars from World War II, to Vietnam, to the Cold War and Afghanistan.   They have served with distinction in many cases. 

With 15,500 active duty transpeople in it, the US military is also the largest employer of trans people in the country.

With Veterans Day happening tomorrow, just needed to point those important facts out.  .

After fighting for years to get that hard won ability to openly serve our country, the Trump misadministration at the behest of of its faith based haters wants to take that ability to serve our country it away from us. 

Nope, not without a fight will we let that happen.  Neither are those of us in Trans World who love and respect these vets for their service.   They took the leadership lessons they learned in the military and are now applying them to help our community advance their human rights.

So while you transphobes hate the right to hate on trans veterans, we have the same right to support their efforts to ensure that those 15,500 trans people stay part of the biggest baddest military on the planet and our trans kids have the option of choosing military service when they are of age to do so.  .   

TransGriot 2017 NFL Picks - Week 10

This 2017 NFL season in which I'm attempting to threepeat in our prognostication contes has not been fun for me like the last two have been in large part because of my racist owner.

With Deshaun Watson out for the season, McNair made it clear by NOT signing Colin Kaepernick  the quarterback who has played in a Super Bowl and is best suited to run the Texans motion offense, and getting two mediocre dropback passing white quarterbacks, signalled to me and every non white Texans fan that he would rather do the right wing thing than win an NFL title

So phuck his Bud Adams 2.0 behind.   I can support the Texans players without loving the owner, but still pissed off he's basically throwing away the 2017 season.

Meanwhile, need to get over my pissivity at the hometown NFL team and focus because Mr. Watts is making a move.   While I had a decent Week 9, his was one game better and that's two straight weeks he's won.

So let's get to the picks.   Mike's Week 10 picks will be here.  Mine will be in bold print, with HOME team in caps.

Week 9 Results                                                                      2017 NFL Season 
TransGriot   8-5                                                                      TransGriot   82-48
Mike            9-4                                                                      Mike            82-48

Thursday Night Game
Seahawks over CARDINALS

Sunday Early Games
Jets over BUCCANEERS
Saints over BILLS
LIONS over Browns
TITANS over Bengals
Packers over BEARS
JAGUARS over Chargers
Vikings over WASHINGTON
Steelers over COLTS

Sunday Afternoon Games
RAMS over Texans
Giants over 49ERS
Cowboys over FALCONS

Sunday Night Game
Patriots over BRONCOS

Monday Night Game
PANTHERS over Dolphins

Arrests Made In Stephanie Montez Case

Arrest have been made by the Nueces County Sheriff's Department in the murder case of Stephanie Montez.

Three suspects, 39year old Cedric Green, 41 year old Randy Dorsey and 36 year old Chloe Huehlefeld have been arrested and charged with murder. 

She may have been killed according the arrest affidavit, over $20 in rolled dimes.

All three are in jail on a $750,000 bond.   Dorsey was already out on a felony bond, and was additionally charged with tampering with a witness, a charge that carries with it an additional $125,000 bond.

The wastes of DNA the defendants will have an upcoming court date before 117th District Court Judge Sandra Watts on Saturday.

The Corpus Christ area trans community will also be watching this case to see if  Stephanie gets justice in it.

You Can Call Phillipe Councilmember-Elect Cunningham!

It took us another day to have it confirmed, but the Minneapolis City Council will have TWO Black trans people sitting on it in a few weeks!

Phillipe Cunningham quit his policy job with Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges to focus on the Herculean task of taking on 20 year incumbent and Minneapolis City Council Board President Barb Johnson.    She had served on the council since 1997, held the presidency for 8 years and was a second generation holder of this Ward 4 seat her mother had previously held.

Johnson was considered unbeatable, but as anyone who watches politics can tell you, no one is unbeatable.  You stay in office long enough and sooner or later you are going to lose an election.

Cunningham was all over Ward 4 introducing himself to voters who liked his message, and combined with help from Trans United Fund and Outfront MN built a campaign team that increased turnout in Ward 4 to the point it helped him grab the historic win.

Minneapolis has an interesting ranked choice voting system that eliminates runoff elections.  Johnson led him by a mere 125 votes that night, but didn't break 50%, which meant that they would have to go through the second and third choice counts until either he or Johnson were declared the winner.

Cunningham made up the early deficit and beat Johnson by 175 votes. 
 

By toppling the Ward 4 incumbent, Cunningham becomes the first out Black trans masculine person elected to public office in the US, the first trans masculine person elected to the Minneapolis City Council, and the first out transmasculine person of any ethnic background to be elected to a the city council of a large city.

And it couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
 
Congratulations Phillipe for your historic win! 

So proud of you, and know that you and Andrea will do some amazing work in conjunction with your fellow councilmembers making your wards and the City of Minneapolis better.

The Long Road To An Out Trans State Rep

Ever since perennial Boston area candidate Althea Garrison ironically accomplished during the 1992 'Year of The Woman' getting elected to her single term as a Massachusetts state legislator and was outed two days later, it has seem as though getting back to having a trans person in a state legislature was the political equivalent of Charlie Brown kicking a football that Lucy was holding for him.

Every time we'd get close to kicking that ball, Lucy would snatch it away at the last second.

So it's why you heard the collective exhale of the entire trans community once the electrifying news of Danica Roem's historic victory began to surface..

But like all achievements, it was built on the shoulders of others who had gone before her, tried mightily to accomplish the task but failed. 

In 2004 the first serious attempt to break that political glass ceiling happened when Amanda Simpson handily won the Arizona Democratic primary with 57% of the vote to make it to the general election, but was defeated in the general election for the Arizona House District 26 seat.

Amanda Simpson would make history a few years later by getting a presidential appointment and serving with distinction in the Obama Administration in the Commerce Department and as the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Getting shadily chopped from the ENDA bill in 2007 and attempts to pass trans rights laws at the local and state legislative level heightened our community urgency to have more trans legislators.

But it wouldn't be until 2010 that two trans people in a red state and a blue state accepted the challenge of running for their state legislatures. 

In Oklahoma Brittany Novotny stepped up to run in for the Oklahoma state legislature.  The attorney was taking on a Herculean level political task in running for the Oklahoma City area House District 84 against the notorious homobigot and transphobic incumbent Rep. Sally Kern (R).

Novotny was unopposed in the Democratic primary for HD 84, but despite her best efforts, fell in the general election to Kern.

Meanwhile in Maryland, Dr. Dana Beyer in that 2010 cycle attempted to run for the House District 18 seat against incumbent Jeff Waldstreicher, but was defeated in the crowded Democratic primary.

In 2012 came the first attempt from a Republican trans person to win a legislative seat.

Lauren Scott has made three attempts to win the District 30 seat in the Nevada State Assembly .Scott attempted her first run, got 21% of the vote in a three way race, but was defeated in the primary by Ken Lightfoot.

Then came the surprising news that Stacie Laughton had been elected to the New Hampshire Legislature in a Nashua area district.

But unfortunately mounting personal and legal troubles kept her from actually sitting in the legislative seat she'd won, and she resigned before having an opportunity to be sworn in for it.

In 2014 came another attempt of an Oklahoma based trans woman to run for and win a Oklahoma House seat.   It was another Oklahoma City area seat, but time in the more blue House District 88. It was also retired OKC police officer Paula Sophia who was going to make that run to history.

The seat was being vacated by Rep Al McAffrey, who was attempting to run for Congress and there were including Sophia four candidates in that race.   Since the Oklahoma Republicans didn't even bother to run a candidate for that seat, the person who emerged from the June 24 runoff would win and basically become the next District 88 rep.

Jason Dunnington and Sophia emerged from that in first and second place race to qualify for an August runoff election since Dunnington only received 40% of the vote to Sophia's 23.5% of it.


In the runoff, Sophia missed becoming the first transperson elected to the Oklahoma Legislature by an agonizing 22 votes.  She's flipped the June election script and was leading for most of the night until the last precinct came in with just enough votes for Dunnington to make him the district's next representative.

Dr. Dana Beyer decided to make another attempt in 2014 at running for office, and this time decided to try for the Maryland Senate.   She challenged sitting incumbent Maryland state Senator Rich Madaleno (D) for his Senate District 18 seat. 

Even though she received 41% of the vote in that district, she still lost that primary race to him.

Sen. Madaleno has resigned the seat to run for Maryland governor, and Beyer is attempting another run at it in the 2018 election cycle. 

Lauren Scott made her second run for the Nevada State Assembly as a Republican, and this time she successfully got out of the Republican primary.  She won the District 30 primary with 58% of the vote over Adam Khan.   But despite running in a year in which the Republicans seized control of the Nevada House, she still lost in the general election to incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle 53.9% - 46.1%

In 2016, Kim Coco Iwamoto, who had already made history by becoming the first out transperson to be elected to statewide office as a result of her 2006 election to the Hawaii State Board of Education, decided to run for the Hawaii Senate District 13 seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland. 

Iwamoto got 31% of the vote in that Senate District 13 Democratic Primary, but lost to the eventual winner Karl Rhoads.   She currently sits on the Hawaii Human Rights Commission, and has recently announced she will be running to become Hawaii's next lieutenant governor in the 2018 cycle.

In that 2016 cycle Lauren Scott  got a rematch against incumbent Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle when both ran unopposed in their respective party primaries. 

The result of the rematch was worse for Scott, who was blown out by Sprinkle 58%-42%

This is the trans electoral history for our electoral legislative run that preceded last night's triumphant blowout win by Danica Roem.

Here's hoping that Del-Elect Roem will be joined by countless other trans people in their state's legislative chambers because frankly, in a time when Trump and the Republicans are trying to push anti trans legislation and policies, we need them there.

A Historic 2017 Election Night For Transkind

Today is the first anniversary of, well you all know what tragically happened on this day.

But last night's elections were part of a Democratic tsunami that saw them regain control of the Washington state Senate, come close to taking back the House of Delegate in Virginia, sweep the executive offices in VA, keep the New York City mayor's chair, and flip the governor's mansion in New Jersey back to the Democrats.

That 2017 Democratic political tsunami also helped several trans candidates rack up historic wins.

Andrea Jenkins became the first trans person of any ethnic background to win a city council seat in a major city when she won her War 8 set with a whopping 73% of the vote..

As impressive as Jenkins win was, she could soon be joined on the Minneapolis City Council by Phillipe Cunningham who is also poised to make history.

Cunningham took on a 20 year incumbent who is also the current council president in Barb Johnson. After the first round of voting in Minneapolis' ranked choice system was only trailing her in this race by a mere 120 votes.   The winner of the Ward 4 council seat will be determined either today or in the next few days. 

Should Cunningham win, it would not only be a political earthquake level win in Minneapolis, he would become the first Black trans man in the US to be elected to public office and, like Jenkins, the first of any ethnic background to be elected to the city council of a major city.

And as many of you are already aware of, Danica Roem slayed her legislative dragon in Bigot Bob Marshall, and it wasn't close.   She beat him by ten percentage points 55%-45% to win her landmark VA 13 House of Delegates race.

There were some other trans folks who rn for office in 2017 who didn't capture the headlines, but were ultimately successful in their runs for public office 

Tyler Titus ran for and won one of the four open seats on the Erie, PA school board last night, becoming the first out trans person to win elective office in the state of Pennsylvania.

In a concrete example of every vote counts, Stephe Koontz won her race for the Doraville, GA City Council Position 3 seat by a mere six votes.

If seven of her voters had stayed home, we wouldn't be calling her Councilmember-elect Koontz today

Out west in California, there was another historic election happening with a trans candidate at the center of it. 

Lisa Middleton became the first out trans candidate to run for and win a non judicial race ( Judge Vicky Kolakowski made that history in Alameda County back in 2012) when she won a seat on the Palm Springs, CA City Council.   One of the people who endorsed Councilmember-elect Middleton was former US Senator Barbara Boxer. 

It was also a big night for Trans United Fund, who backed Roem, Jenkins, Cunningham and Browde, and had two huge breakthrough political wins with a possible third one being determined as you read this. .

TUF was on the ground in Virginia, Minnesota and New York for over a year.  The largest independent It was critical in Phillipe's Ward 4 race and may be the decisive factor should he win this race against 20 year incumbent and Council President Barb Johnson. 

The phone banking, fundraising, mailing, the canvassing all powered by a trans led political organization and its coalition partners with the goal of building and growing sustained trans political power.

It wasn't all wonderful news on this November 7 night for trans political candidates.  Chrissie Browde narrowly lost her race in New Castle, NY by a mere 264 votes.  Hope she tries again in another election cycle.

Thanks to all of the people who stepped up in this cycle to run for office in their various locales and all the folks who helped them get across the finish line.  Whether you were successful or not as a tran candidate in 2017, the message that you undeniably sent was that we are part of our various communities, and we aren't going away. 

Another message you sent to our right-wing opposition was that pushing anti-trans hate for electoral advantage may not be a wise political strategy.  A growing list of Republican ex-politicians including Pat McCrory (NC), Debbie Riddle and Gilbert Pena (TX), Lee Bright (SC) and now Bob Marshall are real time examples of transphobia costing you your political career. 

You also sent a positive message to our trans kids that helps expands their horizons concerning what is possible for a trans person born in the US. 

You 2017 trans candidates whether you spectacularly won or narrowly lost, sent the message to our trans kids that one day, should you decide you wish to go into politics, you too can run and win public office.

And that's what makes this an important and historic election night for trans kind. 

Andrea Jenkins Makes History -Wins In Minneapolis

The wonderful electoral night continues for the trans community as Andrea Jenkins overwhelmingly won her Minneapolis City Council Ward 8 seat and became the first out Black trans person to win elective office in the nation.

This city council race wasn't close.  Jenkins captured 73% of the votes in Minneapolis' ranked choice system, dwarfing the next closest contender by nearly 4000 votes 

She also became with the win the first trans person of any ethnic background to capture a city council seat in a major city, and the first Black trans person since Althea Garrison in 1992 to win elective office. 

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Jenkins.  So proud of your historic win as well. 

Danica Roem Makes History!

Ever since Althea Garrison won a seat in the Massachusetts House in 1992, was outed two days after her win and served one term, out trans women in several states over multiple election cycles have tried to get elected to their respective state legislatures.

Tonight Danica Roem cracked that legislative glass ceiling for the trans community, and did so in an impressive and huge way, beating him by 10 points 55% - 45%

It's a win that is resounding across the commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and in the American transgender community.  Roem not only took down 26 year incumbent delegate Bob Marshall (R) in their VA 13 race, the win is even sweeter because 'Bigot Bob' Marshall is one of the TBLGQ community's longtime legislative haters.

Roem also outraised Marshall 3-1, receiving $500,000 in donations.  She also had a TransUnited Fund fuelled ground game that knocked on 75,000 doors and provided critical support during this historic and now successful run to a legislative seat.   

Marshall lived up to that nickname by not only refusing to debate Roem, but repeatedly misgendered her throughout the campaign.   Looks like Danica had the last laugh and Bigot Bob just discovered the hard way that rampant transphobia is not a pathway to electoral victory

Congratulations to Del-Elect Roem, who will possibly be taking her seat as part of a Democratic majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. 

She also with the breakthrough win has become the first out trans person to be elected and in January seated to a major state legislature.

Now There Are Seven Elected Trans National Legislators!

When she tried to get elected to Ecuador's National Assembly back in 2013, it didn't happen that year for Diane Rodriguez.   

But despite the loss, she didn't give up on making that dream of getting elected to office a reality.    On February 19, 2017 the 34 year old Rodriguez became a member of a very small (for now) international sorority in terms of trans feminine politicians who were elected to their national legislatures.

And South America is leading the way.   Of the now seven trans women around the world who have been elected to their national legislatures, three of them,  Michelle Suarez of Uruguay, Tamara Adrian of Venezuela, and now Rodriguez reside on the South American continent.

The others in case you're wondering, are Georgina Beyer of New Zealand, Vladimir Luxuria of Italy, Anna Grodzka of Poland and Geraldine Roman of the Philippines.

Rodriguez ean on a platform of combatting anti-trans workplace discrimination, combatting bullying aimed at transgender students and legalizing adoption for same gender couples. 

It probably also didn't hurt her chances that Ecuadorean trans people were allowed for the first time to vote as their chosen gender.  In Ecuador, man and women wait in separate lines to cast their ballots.

Rodriguez also become a parent in 2015 with her transmasculine partner Machado and a psychologist along the way.  She has received some death threats now that she is an elected politician. 

"Being a public figure comes at a price. But is see that cost is a sacrifice for younger generations so that they don't have to suffer the same experiences that I suffer through now."

As a legislator, she fights against a broad spectrum of injustices, but she hasn't forgotten as a trans person that she is also fighting against her community marginalization in Ecuadorian society, and it her primary legislative focus.

Congratulation to Senator Rodriguez!   Hope it happens soon in my own country.