Transgender candidates hope to make history in California
Fifty years later, Middleton is hoping to make her own history. On Tuesday, she'll be on the ballot in a
She's part of what activists describe as a new wave of transgender candidates running for local, state and federal offices around the
"We have been the preferred target of conservative forces," Middleton said in a recent interview. "If transgender people are being attacked, you need transgender voices to respond to those attacks."
There are at least 29 openly transgender candidates running in the
"Our rights are on the ballot every time someone is elected," said
Not all of
Already, there's at least one other openly transgender candidate in
The first transgender person elected to any public office in
But Kolakowski said that as a judge, she's felt constrained from commenting overtly on issues like transgender rights, and she wants to see trans people win more legislative and political offices. "It's quite frustrating," Kolakowski said. "My position isn't a political position, it isn't a partisan position, and I can't use it to be a spokesperson for the community in a way some other folks could."
Middleton, 65, lived in the
Now she's one of six candidates competing for two open seats on the council. She's second in fundraising and has racked up endorsements from former
As a council member, Middleton is hoping to focus on issues like homelessness and renewable energy, including passing a requirement that all new residential buildings in the city have solar panels. While she does talk on the campaign trail about being transgender, it's not something she often focuses on, she said. "Most everyone in this town knows who I am and knows that fact, and there's usually not the need to bring it up," she said.
But Middleton is fully aware of the symbolic power of her candidacy. At a recent campaign event, she said, she met a shy 7-year-old girl with pigtails who shook her hand and told her, "I'm like you -- I'm transgender."
"To be an example for kids like her ... that is absolutely a humbling opportunity," Middleton said.
She has it a little easier than many transgender candidates around the country because she's running in
Still, Middleton said, she's received some anti-trans hate mail and emails. One resident supporting another candidate posted an angry
Halfway across the state, Snover is running in a crowded primary field against Denham, who is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the country. Snover's campaign isn't as established as Middleton's -- she had raised just
Snover, 30, also doesn't live in the
"I know I'm a long-shot candidate," Snover said, "but we need to be getting out there and having our voices be heard."
A political independent and
Denham voted against a measure that would prohibit taxpayer dollars going to federal contractors who fire or discriminate against LGBT employees in 2016, and also voted against legalizing gay marriage as a state senator in 2005. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
The first trans candidates are, in some ways, following the same path as gay and lesbian elected officials, who started winning lower level local and county positions -- like
However, there's a much broader acceptance of gay and lesbian people than trans people in American society, polling shows.
"Many people are not there in terms of acceptance, and it remains to be seen whether they can get there," Michelson said.
Nevertheless,
"For many years, we laid back and were quiet -- it was easy to keep a low profile, and we went under the radar," Kolakowski said. "But now we've got a movement, and we need to speak up."
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