Voters in the Philippines made history this week by electing the country’s first transgender person to the House of Representatives.
Geraldine Roman, a Liberal Party candidate, won more than 62% of the unofficial vote count in the congressional district of Bataan, according to CNN.
The election of a transgender woman is a major moment for the Philippines, where the LGBT community has faced public ridicule by politicians and celebrities.
Boxer Manny Pacquiao faced worldwide criticism earlier this year when he said that gay people were “worse than animals” during his own bid for a Senate seat in the Philippines.
Roman, 49, has lived as a woman for two decades and ran for the House seat last occupied by her mother, vowing to carry on her family’s call to public service.
[CNN]
- Workers Are Furious. Their Unions Are Scrambling to Catch Up
- What the Facebook Whistleblower Did to the Company's Stock in 6 Weeks
- Photos from Migrants' Desperate Journeys to the U.S. Border
- Emily Ratajkowski: How I Learned to Let Go
- Afghanistan's Female Students Were Banned from Studying. Now Some Are Finding New Ways to Learn
- The 'Safe Supply' Movement Aims to Curb Drug Deaths Linked to the Opioid Crisis
- The 19 Most Underrated Movies on Netflix
- By Ending Legacy Admissions, Amherst Hopes to Change the Makeup of Its Student Body
