Michelangelo Signorile
Stacie Laughton, Transgender New Hampshire Representative, Discusses Election Win
Posted: 11/18/2012 11:53 am EST Updated: 11/18/2012 6:41 pm EST
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/18/stacie-laughton-transgender-new-hampshire-representative_n_2154963.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3057793,b=facebookPerhaps the most remarkable aspect about Stacie Laughton's history-making win on election night was actually how unremarkable the race itself was when it came to the fact of her gender identity.
"The campaign was pleasant," said Laughton, a Democrat newly-elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to any state legislature in the U.S. "It was not vulgar. It was the way I would like to see politics handled, in a positive manner. [My being transgender] was never an issue, and I was quite happy with that."
It's not that she didn't think about the fact. "I was concerned," the 28-year-old former Nashua selectman, born and raised in Nashua and now a manager of a environmentally-friendly products company, said in an interview on my SiriusXM OutQ radio program this week. "But others that have made history in the past, they looked at that and didn't let it stop them. The way I viewed it was to just be bold. To, against all odds, still try and see what happens. I've never been one to back down when I feel strongly about something."
