Schneider believes that because of this work, West Virginia has been “gradually becoming a better place for transgender West Virginians to live,” but he knows that a symbolic win like Ketchum’s can be a shot in the arm for a marginalized population.
“Transgender youth now have a role model, someone who represents them in government — and I’m of the belief that government should represent the full diversity of our community," said Schneider.
“I think it makes sense that people elected Rosemary because not only is she such a compassionate person who will make a great public servant, but she will also now be someone that those kids can look up to,” he told them. “Transgender youth now have a role model, someone who represents them in government — and I’m of the belief that government should represent the full diversity of our community.”
Ketchum’s win seems to offer hope that transgender youth can do more than just stay in West Virginia; they can help lead it, too. The incoming councilwoman was initially worried that her gender identity might become a problem for her campaign, but that fear never materialized.
“I was particularly concerned about that being an issue here locally,” said Ketchum. “I don’t think it was. Maybe it was and I wasn’t aware of it.”
In fact, despite living and working in Wheeling for nearly 10 years — finishing high school and graduating from college there — Ketchum was ultimately more concerned about voters accepting her as a West Virginian than she was about her LGBTQ+ identity having an effect on the election.
“Because I did not grow up here, because I didn’t go to high school with everyone, [and] because my family doesn’t have a name here, that’s an obstacle in small-town USA,” she told them. “Although I spent 10 years organizing and making friendships and organizing, I didn’t have that ‘born-here, raised-here, had-my-kid-here’ kind of thing.”
“That was an obstacle I really had to overcome and even on election night, ‘I thought that’s probably it. If I lose, it’s that I didn’t try hard enough to get into the community,’” she added. “That was my biggest fear.”
Now that Ketchum has proved that transgender West Virginians can win, even more candidates could emerge in her wake. On a nationwide scale, we’ve seen this effect before. After Danica Roem became the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state legislature in 2017, three transgender women won Democratic primary notations in high-profile races the following year. According to the Victory Fund, which works to elect LGBTQ+ people — and which endorsed Ketchum — there are now 27 elected transgender officials in the country, compared to only six prior to Roem’s win,
“It is frightening in a political sense to be in West Virginia right now, but I think we have the most fertile ground for change anywhere in the country,” said Ketchum.
Jack Carbasho, president and founder of Ohio Valley Pride, which serves Wheeling, hopes that Ketchum’s win can energize the LGBTQ+ community. “It’s an awesome thing because it’s helping to move the city of Wheeling forward along with the state,” he said.
Carbasho met Ketchum in 2017, the same year he founded Ohio Valley Pride and organized its first Pride festival. He was struck by how “happy” Ketchum was, and how quickly she became a fixture around town. Three years later, Ohio Valley Pride is continuing to run its annual festival but is still struggling to find its footing.
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