A Good Day

Tuesday was a good day.

I woke up feeling really good for the first time in weeks. I got ready early and headed to my voting place. I met the people outside with gusto, telling Tamaya Denard’s people that I most definitely planned on voting for her (I had met Tamaya Dennard several times and she is an incredible human being that I wanted more than anything to have her folding chair at the table).

My license is from Virginia but I’m registered in Ohio, and for some reason I have trouble every single time I come to vote. We figured it all out though. I got a ballot and pulled out my newspaper from League of Women Voters, where the night before I had spent hours pouring over every candidate and highlighting the people I wanted to vote for. I’m telling you this so you understand that I go out of my way every election to vote. I argue with anyone who isn’t registered to let them know the reasons it’s their responsibility to vote if they want any control over their rights in their community.

I love getting to vote. I love that I have a say in putting people in office that represent me. I love it even when I lose, because I still know that I did everything in my power to change the people who are in office.

I live in Cincinnati, Ohio because I attend the University of Cincinnati. The results of the Cincinnati City Council elections are here:

When I saw that Tamaya Dennard had won a seat, I felt elated. I felt like so much I had been working for over the course of the past year and protesting for and organizing for had paid off.

But Cincinnati city elections were not the only elections that happened that day, and not even the most notable. I live in Cincinnati but I’m originally from Burke, Virginia in Fairfax County. My entire family lives there, so I was keeping close tabs on who was running and who won.

My dad called me at 8:30 to tell me that Danica Roem won a seat in the house of Delegates. She beat a 30 year incumbent who is the most homophobic transphobic person in the whole VA government. I started crying from the overwhelming happiness I felt for her. The first ever transgender woman elected into statewide government. That has to be the absolute COOLEST superlative title for anyone, ever.

I’ve known for a while that at some point in my life I will run for office, but I haven’t figured out what capacity and when or for what. And I don’t really know how I would be accepted as non-binary and an elected official. If Danica Roem couldn’t even be seen as a woman by her opponent, how on earth will people see me as without gender?

But Danica Roem showed that it’s possible. Anyone, as long as they speak to the people on the issues hit by the community, it’s possible. My home state did me proud. And I come close to tears just thinking about the possibilities Danica Roem opened up for young transgender women who want to make a difference in their communities.

And Danica Roem was not the only “first” when it came to seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzmán became the first two hispanic women to serve. Kathy Tran became the first ever Asian American. Virginia said they value differences, and celebrate diversity in representation. The people said that they need fresh new voices working towards change, and put people in office who reflect that.

And we learned a lesson Whitney Houston told us all in 1997:

And let’s also not forget the wonderful people who won across the country and made history in more ways than one.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/08/meet-the-15-people-who-made-history-in-the-2017-election.html

1. Danica Roem

2. Ravinder Bhalla

3. Melvin Carter

4. Kathy Tran

5. Vi Lyles

6. Andrea Jenkins

7. Sheila Oliver

8. Joyce Craig

9. Hala Ayala

10. Elizabeth Guzmán

11. Wilmot Collins

12. Jenny Durkan

13. Justin Fairfax

14. Mazahir Salih

15. Tyler James Titus

Remember these names. These are the people that changed history on November 7th, 2017. These are the people that motivated the country to vote and to be excited about voting. These are our leaders. We may not win every battle. Hell, don’t win every battle. But when we make history like this we show young people like me that you can be it, because you can see it. We show people that sometimes bringing a folding chair is the only way to get a seat at the table. We show power.

So let’s take this momentum and do something awesome with it.