Ward 8 City Council Candidate Holly Ryan made history on November 5 when voters headed to the polls in Newton, Massachusetts, and cast their ballots. Running unopposed, Ryan became the first openly transgender elected official in Newton, one of the first in the state and one of just 13 in the country, according to the Victory Institute.
Along with the history-making, Ryan earned her success through decades of hard work.
“If you look at it from other people’s perspective, they say this was the most logical evolution in my politics,” Ryan told the Boston Globe. “I know the city, the whole city, I know what’s going on. I’ve been [in Newton] for over 65 years. I’ve seen all the changes from when it was farmland and dirt roads.”
Just before election day the Globe reported:
Ryan, an activist since the Vietnam War and the Stonewall riots, began her official political journey 25 years ago “lobbying for civil rights and social justice.” A former steering committee co-chair of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Ryan co-chaired the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee’s LGBT Caucus and served on the LGBTQ advisory board of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.
Rick Lipof, councilor at-large for Ward 8, credits Newton’s “diverse, forward-thinking community” for this historic step forward in representation. But, he said, he was not entirely surprised at Ryan’s warm welcome to the election field.
“It doesn’t feel as groundbreaking because Newton is an accepting, inclusive place where we would expect all people, including the City Council, to be open to everyone regardless of race or gender,” Lipof said. …
[Ryan] “has a strong understanding of the issues that face our community. She has a tremendous heart and intellect that allows her to work effectively with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds,” [said former Newton Mayor Setti Warren, who had appointed Ryan to the Newton Human Rights Commission and LGBTQ liaison, back in 2012 for her “statewide leadership around LGBTQ issues and, in particular, her strategic leadership,” he told the Globe].
Ryan’s election “will heighten our community’s awareness of LGBTQ issues and Newton will be stronger because of that,” Warren said, adding that Ryan’s political “civility” is admirable and necessary in these “challenging” political times.
“Visibility for transgender people in all aspects of life is definitely something that is needed and something that will enhance our community,” said Tre-Andre Valentine, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, adding that visibility at any level can “really smash those stereotypes that people might have.”
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