(The Washington Post) — “It’s a very hopeful sign that people are willing to vote for trans candidates,” Stryker said. “It’s probably just the tip of the iceberg for what we’re going to see in the year ahead.”


Tuesday was a historic night for the nation’s transgender community, which watched as five transgender people won elections and paved the way for others to join them in leadership positions in the coming years.

Danica Roem became the first openly transgender person elected and seated in a state legislature, defeating a 13-term incumbent who called himself Virginia’s “chief homophobe” and who introduced a “bathroom bill” that would have restricted the bathrooms Roem could use. The Minneapolis City Council will have two transgender members: Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham, who gender advocates say are the first openly transgender black people elected to public office in the United States.

Click to continue reading. By Marwa Eltagouri – Nov. 8, 2017.