“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 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.” — KGW (US)

(Many thanks to Angela St. Lawrence for the link.)

Usually when you put politics and any form of deviance together in the same sentence, you end up with some desultory story about a public figure getting caught with his nose in the — well, not in the trough, but in the ass, or the armpit, or in the boys, or in the little girls, or in the toilet, or whatever. The story runs a predictable trajectory from there: exposure, shame, public apology, resignation from politics, and then, last but not least, the big-money tell-all book deal…

It’s that dreary procession of exposed politicians that forms a sort of humming in the background when you contemplate the election of Stu Rasmussen. His story is the exact opposite. He came out of his transgender closet and ran for office unashamed of the “real him,” so to speak. That makes him unique for two reasons — not only does he bring a little kink to his local mayoralty, he also brings what is likely a profound forthrightness. How often can you say that about a politician?

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