* Katelyn Burns…
Representative Marie Newman (D-IL) felt sick to her stomach while watching the results come in on election night 2016. She stayed up late and followed along on three different computer screens and her television as it became clear that Donald Trump would be the next president.
Eventually she turned in, hoping for a miracle that would not come. “I’m a super optimistic person, and every day [I] get up and it’s a fresh day. I never let a bad day before affect the next day, ever, but I was a hot mess,” Newman tells Teen Vogue.
She was worried about her daughter, Evie, who, just two years earlier, had come out as transgender and begun her transition. “All I could think about is this individual that I believe to be literally a piece of garbage in every way was going to roll back all of Evie’s rights,” Newman says. “All of our economic rights, all of our health care rights.”
The next day Newman canceled her meetings and sat at home in her pajamas trying to think of what she could do about Trump’s election and protecting her daughter. That’s when, she says, she decided to run for Congress.
Evie, now a 20-year-old sophomore at DePaul University, had doubts at first. “I was very much disillusioned by the Trump election and that made me kind of skeptical of electoral politics as a whole,” she recalls, speaking to Teen Vogue over Zoom from her north Chicago apartment in a joint May interview with her mom. “I didn’t really understand why she was doing it, because I don’t think that a single person alone could really change the structures of power that exist in this country.”
Newman lost her first campaign, in 2018, in a hard-fought primary election against former Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat who opposed abortion access and consistently voted against LGBTQ+ rights. But she tried again in 2020, when she narrowly defeated Lipinski in the Democratic primary (by 2,816 votes), and then bested her Republican opponent in the general election.
With her win, Newman joined a small but vocal — and growing — list of federal lawmakers who have trans people in their immediate families. According to Newman, there are six representatives with close trans or nonbinary family members, including her Progressive Caucus colleague Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
It’s a long story, so click here.
* Related…
* Illinois On Its Way To Allowing Name Changes For Trans People On Marriage Certificates
* Chicago Police Will Use Correct Names, Genders For Trans, Nonconforming People Under New Policy
* Republican States Have Already Enacted 19 New Anti-Trans Laws This Year
- Shibboleth - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 8:54 am:
I am so grateful to Rep. Newman for being such a strong supporter of her daughter.
Gender identity is complicated and we should always approach trans people with understanding, patience and support. As someone with a trans sibling, I can assure you they aren’t malicious or “crazy.” Trans people are just people with a slightly more complicated sense of self than most of us and I wish more people had a trans person in their life so they might become more understanding.
- Shield - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 9:10 am:
Great to have a congressperson who can recognize the humanity of everyone and treat them with the respect they deserve. A marked change from her predecessor.
- A Guy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 9:53 am:
Ugh. The other 99% deserve represention too. No bias toward trans persons. Many, including GOPers support their rights and everyone else’s.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 10:01 am:
First, it’s a great read. My best to Newman and her daughter.
===The other 99% deserve represention too.===
Who is not representing them?
===No bias toward trans persons. Many===
Please speak for yourself.
Those willing to have a “bad” bias like to downplay real challenges and safety concerns. Diminishing that is not respecting the challenges, or worse, faced.
- Kittycakes - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 10:06 am:
her district will be more in play for republicans than the 6th. beyond abortion and trans rights I’m really not sure what she can run on. the orange man is gone. and MGT a freshman rep from Georgia aint going to be a good enough boogeyman in suburban illinois.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 10:56 am:
“Ugh. The other 99% deserve represention too.”
As a philosopher observed: When you are accustomed to privilege, equality can feel like oppression.
– MrJM
- A Guy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:04 am:
Observed her for myself. My observation is that she’s among the most unpleasant and intolerable people I’ve ever met. OW thinks he’s MT, Mother Teresa. He’s not. I don’t have that kind of bias toward anyone and work hard to make sure I never do. You however have earned the bias of condescension. JM, do you
- A Guy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:05 am:
jm, do you apply your philosophies toward everyone or just those you perceive with no evidence to have privilege?
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:11 am:
=== OW thinks he’s MT, Mother Teresa. He’s not.===
We agree, I’m not Mother Teresa.
LOL
Good try, but this…
===Ugh. The other 99% deserve represention too.===
Per usual, you forget to show how (checks notes) 99% aren’t being represented… as you speak for “many”.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:18 am:
“those you perceive with no evidence to have privilege”
This is a joke, right?
You’ve been telling on yourself for years, pal.
– MrJM
- Cool Papa Bell - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:22 am:
==The other 99% deserve represention too.==
Equal rights and representation for all means everyone gets the same slice of pie - more for “them” doesn’t mean less for you.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:25 am:
=== Many, including GOPers support their rights…===
Not to pile on, but it is a policy position of elected Republicans in many states to deny trans people their God given rights to live in peace as the people God made them. No amount of spin from you is going to repeal bathroom laws written by GOP interest groups and sponsored by GOP legislators.
Many Republicans support their rights? Some does not equal many. Do something about the cancer of hate and discrimination in your party then you can complain about a mother demonstrating her live for her child.
Just kidding. I did want to pile on. Lol.
- Suburban Mom - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:32 am:
A Guy, can you be SPECIFIC about what you object to about Newman’s policies or speech or anything else? I’m wondering if you may be dodging specificity because you know it will be outed as ugly bias when you get specific. Is that true?
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:32 am:
=== Many Republicans support their rights? Some does not equal many.===
The phantom “many”…
… that you want to speak for are saying the opposite as you wax poetic about the 99% and “representation”
The reality of this, and to the post and the article, is that this idea that “many” disagree or “representation” is lacking, it’s that the fears, concerns, and biases not only exist but at heavy doses.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 11:55 am:
@ A Guy, what has she taken away from you? She is advocating for people, which i can see would be confusing if you are part of the GQP who only seems to advocate against people.
- A Guy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 3:57 pm:
I’m not able to respond to (nor do I wish to) respond to everything here, as I don’t post 40 comments a day or keep coming back to engage those who do, a few who get lipstick on their own mirrors.
But, I’ll try a bit. I’m told that approx. 1% of the population considers themselves transgender. In real numbers, that’s plenty of people to be concerned about and help. We should and we do. I’m not a safe harbor for anyone who would ridicule or harass the people in this or any other community. When it comes to schooling and curriculums, I’ve also been concerned that there is too much, too soon added to appease some interest, rather than the interest of the student’s personal development. That goes for all gender identity. Ramming concepts into the heads of very young students is less productive and more problematic, regardless of who the “author du jour” might be who is supposedly brilliant at communicating these concepts. I don’t hear anyone pushing calculus or trig, just complicated social issues. Am I too conservative? Probably for some. Not enough for others. But these discussions are cast in the wrong light in the wrong place. Is there a Think Tank besides Teen Vogue to ferret out better outcomes? I’m guessing there is. Anyone discussing how Teen Vogue had a rough month? I don’t see it.
I’m heading back to work, so I may not see responses, so have at me. JS, she’s taken nothing from me, nothing was there for her to take. Suburb Mom, she rubbed me the wrong way in a number of places I saw her in person, in public. I wasnt alone in my feelings. Others were disappointed too. Some may be thrilled. I may rub you the wrong way. I likely do, but not on purpose.
- A Guy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 4:00 pm:
Answering 47 quickly. Pile on all you wish. I’m trying in my own party, and many less vocal members are completely neutral on the issue to the extent it shouldn’t be an issue. Just about every senior facility has unisex bathrooms as do many new facilities. It takes time to catch up, but we’ll get there.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 4:05 pm:
=== lipstick on their own mirrors===
An odd turn of a phrase given the subject of the post.
- A Guy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 4:13 pm:
posted that for you O Henry.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 17, 21 @ 4:20 pm:
Still can’t see it’s an odd turn of a phrase, given the post… “ok”
The facts remain the Trump party is not in any way a transgender friend, as pointed out even a casual look at state legislation in this country can’t speak to “many” in any measure of support. The reason there’s no feeling of safety is that those identifying as Trump supporting are ones in those states making things unsafe.
Opinions to this or anything when speaking for many is not good rhetoric, and especially not good when the premise is false.
While Teen Vogue might not be your choice for a discussion, it seems as though the family, mother, daughter, and Teen Vogue disagree.