Silverton, OR, has a transgender mayor, maybe the first

[Carolynn]

Either of these links should take you to the artical about Stu. She is one of if not the only transgender mayors. She is not TS in that she considers herself happy with her tackle, since she added breast implants and grew out her hair.


http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/k ... a1fa7.html#

OK, this is supposed to be it but I still can't get it to work and to search their blamed site, I have to join their silly news thingy, and I already have to much spam to filter. I will continue to work on it.

[Carolynn]

Link busted. I will relocate and put corrected link in.

[Carolynn]

OK, I give up. Hope this works.

Transgender man elected mayor of Silverton

09:11 AM PST on Friday, November 7, 2008

By JACK PENNING, for kgw.com

Click link below for more details

VIDEO > KGW News report
SILVERTON, Ore., - This election marked the first African-American President. The first time in 40 years an Oregon Senate candidate beat an incumbent Senator. And in tiny Silverton, Oregon, residents have elected the man who's believed to be the first ever openly transgender mayor in the United States.

Stu Rasmussen was recently elected the mayor of Silverton. He is believed to be America's first openly transgender Mayor.

Stu Rasmussen served two terms as the Mayor of Silverton in the 1990s. But he hadn't admitted to being transgender. He's not the same man now that he was then. Today he wears a skirt and high heels. He has breast implants, and long red hair. He looks like a woman - but he's not.

"I identify mostly as a heterosexual male," Rasmussen said. "But I just like to look like a female."

Rasmussen is a man. He even has a girlfriend. He says he's always been transgender, but he only "came out" a few years ago.

"Some guys' mid-life crisis is motorcycles or sports cars or climbing mountains or trophy wives or whatever." Rasmussen said his mid-life crisis was quite different. "I always wanted cleavage, so I went out and acquired some."

With the way he looks, he wasn't sure how his run for Mayor would go.

"The first 30 seconds they think, am I in a freak show? Is there a camera behind me? What's going on here?" Rasmussen told NewsChannel 8. "And then we get down to discussing whatever the issue is - city business or business or whatever - and they figure out this guy's different, but he knows what he's talking about."

It's Rasmussen's knowledge of the issues, and of the town, that won over so many voters. As one voter said, "Stu's very devoted to this town."

Rasmussen won by a hefty margin - 13 points. It really wasn't close.

"He wants to maintain the integrity of Silverton," voter Gail Frassenei said. And she said she isn't sure Rasmussen would be elected anywhere else. "I think it's amazing a small town like this can be so open-minded, to elect someone that's made a life change."

"I'm prejudiced, but I think this is just about the coolest town on Earth," Rasmussen said, just before he broke down, a tear gently running through his eyeliner, and onto his cheek. He can't wait to take office in January. He said he's finally confident enough to be himself, as he runs his hometown, wearing his signature heels.

[Jodie Wexler]

I used the link and typed in mayor in the search box and the story came up.
Thanks for the posting.
Jodie

[Virginia]

Thanks for the article. I too just typed in "mayor" and the story came up and access to the comments of which there were many and as would be expected most were negative and brainless. The positive ones were lucid, well thought out and intelligent!

to paraphrase" that's one small step for Stu and one one giant leap of Us'ens!!"

Love,

Virginia

[Anita]

Thanks for posting about it, Carolynn. It's an inspiring story.

[Kimberly Kael]

Wonderful to see. It's hard to believe there's this much societal change during my lifetime, but it's really encouraging. Here's another article on the subject:

http://www.komonews.com/news/34147009.html

[Virginia]

Thanks Kimberly,

Again, it is interesting to read the comments posted and see that there are still people who vote yet still live in the dark ages. They have not got a clue and evidently don't want one.

I did like the one comment, that a town of 7500 voted in (sic) a drag queen - and begs the question, just how bad was the incumbent mayor?

Love,

Virginia

[Kimberly Kael]

I think there's a strong message in the subtext of the story and the comments left by others. To those living in the town where they see the mayor regularly, his cross-dressing isn't a big deal. They've been exposed and have interacted with him for long enough that they've come to accept it. (I use the masculine pronoun because that appears to be his preference.)

The only people who think there's something peculiar about the town's choice are those who don't know any transgendered people. Anything unfamiliar seems strange at first, and some will even consider it threatening.

This is why I believe it's important to be out interacting with people in a positive light. It's part of why I think passing is the wrong goal and acceptance is what I'm after. I've seen far too much advice that suggests the way to pass is to keep your distance, avoid making eye contact, stick to the shadows and avoid speaking. Mayor Stu has done none of the above and has achieved something far more important, in my opinion.

[Jillian]

I knew there was some mystical reason why I subconsciously chose Oregon as my ultimate destination when I decided to finally stop suppressing and start expressing my true self.

Woo Beaver State!

[Erin L]

Not even within 300 years being the first. In the early 1700s, the Royal Governor of New York, Edward Hyde, used to love to dress up as his cousin (Queen Anne) and stroll around the ramparts of the battery in the early evening, with a parasol. It was common knowledge in the colony.

[Kimburly]

The mountain people are the finest kind I've ever met, bar none. City folk may have seen it all, but they're not as accepting as those of us who live in nature's wonderland. If it feels right, it's right!
Would that I were on top of a mountain tonight!

[Paige]

So it seems my ex-wife, who hated my crossdressing lives in Silverton along with her brother and some other members of her family. I now live in Connecticut with a tolerant if not understanding wife. Love all of you.

[DonnaT]

Well Paige, curious minds want to know, did they vote for the Mayor?

[Paige]

Donna,

At first I thought about saying "I sure would like to know" but then I thought the better of it. I really don't care to know.

Nice chatting. I've been gone for a while but I peek in every so often. Nice to see so many of my friends.

Paige