In a Minneapolis City Council race, Andrea Jenkins became the first openly transgender Black woman elected to public office in the United States. Jenkins hopes that her win is part of a larger rejection of Trumpian, white supremacist politics and she believes that both her and fellow trans politician Danica Roem‘s victory are proof that America will not bend to the will of fear and hatred and bigotry.

“Transgender people have been here forever, and black transgender people have been here forever,” she told the Washington Post. “I’m really proud to have achieved that status, and I look forward to more trans people joining me in elected office, and all other kinds of leadership roles in our society.”

Andrea Jenkins is not only a politician who cares deeply about addressing youth violence and developing around small businesses, artists, and community activists, but she is also an award-winning poet who was awarded a Bush fellowship to work on transgender issues. Jenkins is also the curator of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota.

Having transgender people elected in public office means we’ll be able to make policies and direct conversations in ways that can ensure equity and fairness and justice for transgender people.