Meet the Transgender Americans Who Won on Election Day
In an incredible turnout of pro-equality voters, Americans across the country elected at least seven out transgender people to office during yesterday’s election.
These historic wins took place in states across the country from Georgia to Pennsylvania, as Americans rejected the vitriolic rhetoric that Donald Trump and Mike Pence continue to spew.
HRC applauds the following openly transgender candidates who won a wide variety of races: (continue reading here).
Mayor-elect Wilmot Collins keeps focus on Helena as election gets national buzz
Helena Mayor-elect Wilmot Collins, dressed in a U.S. Army fleece, running shoes and sweats, belts out the lyrics to “Your Man” in a deep bass and “Baby, lock the door and turn the lights down low,” trilling a bit on the last note before breaking out into a laugh.
“I love karaoke, man,” he said the day after he unseated Helena’s mayor of 16 years Jim Smith on a vote of 5,139-4,801, with all but provisional ballots counted. “We went to the Rialto last night after the election and sang. I always start with Brooks & Dunn’s ‘Neon Moon’ and then do some Josh Turner.” (continue reading here)
To Fail Or Not To Fail: The Fierce Debate Over High Standards
“I can’t teach the book right now,” says Shaka Greene, algebra teacher at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School. “Because my students are still learning to add 49 plus 17.”
So begins Part 3 — the conclusion of our podcast series: Raising Kings: A Year of Love and Struggle at Ron Brown College Prep.
This radical new high school in Washington, D.C., is really two schools — two approaches — in one. It strives to teach students traditional subjects, including algebra and English, while also helping them grow socially and emotionally. But both efforts require valuable class time, and the school struggles to find a balance. (continue reading here)
Empowerment work: Kath is an advocate for the transgender community, working against trans-phobia and violence, and to improve secure access to healthcare services. She is a founding member of the Thai Transgender Alliance, a working group to strengthen the transgender community and advocacy efforts. She specifically focuses on education and health for transgender youth. In addition to her activism, Kath is an Advocacy and Communications Officer for the Raks Thai Foundation, which works to prevent HIV/AIDS in Thailand.
Empowerment Work: Marvelous works primarily with youth to build trust and peace with people from diverse ethnicities and religions in a country that has confronted numerous conflicts. She helps youth to better understand how to address issues of religion and ethnicity in a time and place where these are extremely sensitive issues. Having earned a master’s degree in divinity, and being a member of the Karen ethnic minority, she has conducted peace building training with faith-based communities, with a focus on Karen Christian areas. Marvelous has also volunteered as a facilitator in the National Level Political Dialogue in the Peace Process of Myanmar on behalf of the Karen National Union.
Empowerment Work: Zaw works as a Girls Safety and Security Coordinator at Colorful Girls. Colorful Girls is a local NGO that seeks to empower young women. In contrast to the work of many other gender empowerment organizations, Colorful Girls does not provide vocational training, but rather, seeks to instill leadership skills, confidence, and education so that young women can effectively advocate for themselves and for social change, both in the home and in the public sphere.
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