Transgender political activists, including Marisa Richmond, are making strides in the Democratic Party. (Photo courtesy of Richmond)
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Friday, March 28, 2008
Marisa Richmond has been involved in national political conventions since 1980, when she worked on Sen. Edward Kennedy’s bid for president.
But this election year will likely be more memorable for Richmond, as she is set to become the first black transgender delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
This year, Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean also named Diego Sanchez from Massachusetts to one of the convention’s standing committees. Sanchez is the first transgender person to be selected by the chair of the DNC and the first to serve on the platform committee.
Richmond, a college history professor at Middle Tennessee State University, transitioned in 2001 at age 42. Though she knew since age 7 that she felt like a woman, she said she didn’t know the terminology — or what was possible — until later.
Born and raised in Nashville, Richmond received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard and her master’s from the University of California at Berkeley before earning a doctorate from George Washington University in D.C.
In 2004, the first transgender caucus, with seven people, was held.
“A lot of us around the country were saying that we needed to do more and have more people involved,” Richmond said.
Richmond’s hometown pride inspired her to run at a congressional district level in February. Though she wasn’t elected then, the fact that she ran put her in line for the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee to choose her as an at-large delegate on March 15.
After the vote, the group elected its delegation chair and made committee assignments. There are no formal meetings planned until August.
Richmond, a delegate for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), said she would be happy with either Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) winning the nomination.
“She supported the hate crimes measure, which we worked very hard on and is, of course, fully inclusive,” Richmond said. She also touted Clinton’s support for a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act and a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“She and Obama are actually identical,” Richmond said. “It’s time for a woman, it’s time for an African American.”
Richmond is politically active in several arenas. She’s president of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition and a registered lobbyist at the state capitol. On Super Tuesday, Richmond became the first openly transgender person to win an election in Tennessee, and is now the Davidson County Democratic Committeewoman, representing District 23. She also serves on the board of directors for the Tennessee Equality Project.
In her downtime until the convention, Richmond is working to expand Tennessee hate crimes laws and university policies to cover gender identity.
Transgender Americans have seen several firsts in the past few years. Barbra “Babs” Casbar, current New Jersey Stonewall Democrats president, was the first transgender delegate from New Jersey in 2004. According to Casbar, the first transgender delegate to the Democratic National Convention was Jane Fee from Minnesota in 2000.
In 2004, there were four trans delegates, including Casbar. Kathy Padilla from Pennsylvania and Christina Ocasio from Texas were the first Hispanic trans delegates named to the convention in 2004. The first trans person to ever be named to a standing committee was Melissa Sklarz, director of the New York Trans Rights Organization. She was on the credentials committee in 2004.
And the delegate selection process isn’t over for the 2008 election. Some states won’t have their names until as late as June, said John Marble, director of communications for the National Stonewall Democrats.
“I do think we’ll see other trans delegates,” Marble said. “It’s just that every state is different.”
This year, Diego Sanchez was elected unanimously to the platform committee and is also an at-large delegate.
Casbar and Richmond hope these milestones increase transgender visibility within the Democratic Party.
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