This week, The Advocate covered the historic news for American history about Misty Snow, an out transgender woman who has a fighting chance to become a U.S. senator. In the article, “Meet the Woman Who Could Become the First Out Trans U.S. Senator,” The Advocate writes about the 31-year-old from Utah who has the potential to unseat one of Congress’s most vocally anti-LGBT members.
Misty Snow made history Tuesday when she became the first transgender woman to win a major party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. Snow will face Republican Sen. Mike Lee in November’s general election. Lee, a close friend of failed presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has coauthored several anti-LGBT bills, including one seeking to invalidate nationwide marriage equality, and another attempting to enshrine a so-called right to discriminate against LGBT people into federal law.
Despite her opponent’s long history of anti-LGBT rhetoric, Snow says she’s not worried about attacks from the Tea Party or other right-wing groups targeting her gender identity.
Her experiences as a trans woman from a working-class background give her essential perspective, she says, and an ability to advocate on behalf of marginalized people in Congress that many current U.S. lawmakers are lacking.
Although she’s never run for political office before, Snow seemed undaunted by the challenge of seeking such a prestigious title in her first bid for public office. She explains that her local district, in downtown Salt Lake City, is currently represented by a team of progressive Democrats, who she says she had no interest in challenging.
“[But] in the Senate race, the other candidate, my primary opponent was a self-described conservative Democrat who was against Planned Parenthood and wanted an investigation [into alleged wrongdoing],” she says. “He also wasn’t in favor of same-sex marriage, and I thought that was really troubling. So I filed my paperwork to run against him.”
Visit The Advocate for the full story and to learn more about Misty Snow and her upcoming road to Congress.
