Breaking Barriers: Election Edition
I came across a TED talk by a woman who said she believes the movement for transgender rights is about where the gay rights movement was in the 1970s; or, since she was a baseball fan, she said in terms of achieving full societal acceptance, she believes L and G folks are at third base, while T folks are still on first.
Every wall that is breached, every milestone that is achieved for our community, deserves to be celebrated.
Sarah McBride
Sarah McBride took office this month as the highest-ranking openly transgender elected official in our country’s history, when she was sworn in as a Delaware State Senator. Someday, we’ll see a trans/nonbinary person in Congress; I can actually dream I might live to see the day when we might put one of our own in the White House.
Sarah’s personal story is a compelling one; a childhood political junkie who met her hero U.S. Senator Joe Biden at an early age; who came out and transitioned at age 20; and now, a decade later, after a White House internship and work with advocacy organizations, she’s fulfilled her dream of holding office herself.
Her victory is justifiably celebrated. But I think it’s also important to celebrate the legacy of those who may not have won at the ballot box, but who, by the very act of standing for election, helped move us closer to full equality.
Addison Perry-Franks
This is why I mourn the news of the passing of Addison Perry-Franks at age 39. Last year, she ran for the Texas House of Representatives and for mayor of her hometown of Snyder. She didn’t win either election, but nevertheless helped change hearts and minds. She ran a computer repair business and was engaged to run for the House when the incumbent in her district sponsored a Bathroom Bill in the Legislature.
This multi-talented woman was also an actor, screenwriter and musician. She ran not just on equality issues, but on access to health care, education and the economy. She energized not only the LGBTQ+ community, but a broader group of political activists.
I celebrated a personal political milestone of my own this week when I was sworn into office for the fifth time as a Lincoln County (Oregon) Commissioner. It was my toughest race since my first election in 2004 for many reasons, but one of the challenges I faced was transphobia and the hate mail and death threats that went with it. I was sad, but not surprised, that some people ignored my record in office and wanted to call me a “mentally ill man in a dress.” God, I thought, are their hearts and heads so full of hate that they can’t even be original?
When I was taking the oath, something happened I wasn’t anticipating—my voice broke, but I recovered to finish the oath. I’ve never taken the support of the people I serve for granted, and while my transition did expose some ugliness, the amount of open-minded, loving support I’ve received since coming out two and a half years ago has filled my heart with gratitude.
I dream big dreams, as I indicated earlier. I said it’s important to celebrate milestones; but won’t it be a wonderful day when the gender identity of a candidate (just like any other aspect of their identity) is so much of a non-issue that nobody bothers to point it out?
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”—John Lennon
Category: Transgender Politics
About the Author (Author Profile)
Claire Hall was born and grew up in a large city on the left coast and has spent most of her adult years in a beautiful small coastal community where she's now an elected official in local government after spending many years as a newspaper and radio reporter. In her space time she loves reading, writing fiction (her first novel was published by a regional press a couple of years ago), watching classic Hollywood movies, and walking.Subscribe
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