Newly-elected Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton is flying a transgender pride flag from her Capitol Hill office, and has revealed she has a trans relative.
The Virginia Democratic lawmaker was sworn in to the House of Representatives on January 3, and wasted no time in setting out her support for equal rights, flying the trans flag alongside her US flag and Virginia state flags.
Narissa Rahaman, who works for Human Rights Campaign (HRC), shared a photo of the flag on Facebook.
Rahaman wrote: “This moment truly brought me to tears and it deserves to stand on its own. We walked up to Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton’s office and the first thing I saw was the trans flag proudly and openly displayed next to the Virginia flag.
“The congresswoman said to me, ‘Did you see the flag?! I think we’re the only office on the Hill with one.’
“Thank you to everyone who knocked a door and made a phone call on this campaign. This flag is there because of you and for you! My heart is full.”
Wexton explained to The Washingtonian that she is the aunt to a transgender child and put the flag up to show her support.
She told the outlet: “The trans community has been under attack. I wanted to show my solidarity because we are talking about my friends and family.”
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No out transgender person has ever been elected to Congress, but Virginia is home to one of the country’s only transgender state-level representatives, Democratic lawmaker Danica Roem.
JoDee Winterhof of HRC said: “Jennifer Wexton is a proven leader who will stand up in the U.S. Congress for Virginia’s working families and help pull the emergency brakes on the Trump-Pence administration’s reckless agenda.”
Her stance represents an abrupt shift from Barbara Comstock, the two-term Republican incumbent who Wexton unseated in November’s midterm election.
Comstock was an opponent of LGBT+ rights who opposed equal marriage and supported ‘freedom to discriminate’ bills.
Wexton previously sat in the Virginia General Assembly, where she repeatedly championed legislation to prohibit discrimination against LGBT+ people.
As a state lawmaker, Wexton put forward bills to outlaw discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and supported efforts to ban the discredited practice of conversion therapy.
She also helped fight off attempts from state Republicans to pass anti-transgender bills.