Posted on 11/10/2006 12:39:34 PM PST by presidio9
After an aggressive campaign, Kim Coco Iwamoto earned a seat on Hawaii's statewide Board of Education and, according to national advocacy groups, a place in history as the country's highest-elected transgender official.
Iwamoto, a 38-year-old lawyer, did not tout her gender status in the campaign but has openly advocated for transgender youth and related issues at the state capitol. She placed third in Tuesday's election among six candidates for three seats on the board.
She was not immediately available for comment. However, in a statement early Wednesday she said she was looking forward to "working in collaboration with the other members of the board to move education forward in our state." advertisement
Iwamoto, who was born on Kauai and attended a Honolulu Catholic boys school, also noted that she had won a special "Kids Voting Hawaii" virtual election for students on the Internet. Her biography on her Web site does not give her age or gender status.
The 14-member state board governs the islands' 285 public schools that enroll more than 180,000 students. Iwamoto was elected to a seat representing Oahu, Hawaii's most populous island. Two others, Karen Knudsen and Donna Ikeda, will also represent Oahu on the board.
"She would be the highest ranking openly transgender person elected in the country ... ever," said Denis Dison, vice president of communications for the Victory Fund, a Washington-based group that tracks and helps fund lesbian, gay and transgender candidates around the nation.
Previously elected transgender candidates in the U.S. were primarily limited to local seats such as city alderman or city council, Dison said.
Iwamoto, who is a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality, wasn't among the candidates the group endorsed this year. She has a law degree from the University of New Mexico, and was featured in a handbook on transgender policy for her advocacy of special restroom facilities on the school campus after she was harassed for using the women's bathroom.
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Well, isn't that special.
No pics please.
ping
I didn't vote for it.
So, the slide into Hell continues! Great! Thanks, Hawaii!
One of the most convincing shemales I have seen in a long time...
We're ranking people on the "Transgenderedness" now?
I'm pretty sure I don't wanna know the criteria...
I could do without seeing that in a hula skirt....
That might explain the missing adam's apple...
More like Whack! Chop!
"That's a MAN, baby!"
Because it's Friday, I'll go right ahead andsay that this thread is sorely in need of more cowbell...
"I usually don't care for polls"
Apparently, neither does Kim...
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