West Virginia Names Rosemary Ketchum Its First Openly Transgender Official
The state of West Virginia has recently named 26-year-old Rosemary Ketchum as its first openly transgender official. Currently, there are less than 30 transgender elected officials in the U.S., Ketchum, of Wheeling, is now one of them.
Although the city’s newest councilwoman will not assume the office until July 1, Ketchum won 39.3 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan election, beating Peggy Niebergall by 15 votes.
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On her win, Ketchum says, “It’s still strange that it makes history, but I’m grateful to be a part of that.” She adds, “Running for office was never in the plan for me. I didn’t know what that would look like or how I would fit into that world. The more local I kept my mindset, the more passionate I became about representing my community on some of the issues I think are most important.”
She adds that the job is “personal” to her, as she was homeless after her family home burned down as a child, and has also been affected by the opioid epidemic that’s plagued West Virginians, including some of her own family members.
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