New York City Council candidate Mel Wymore will participate in the New York City Pride March on Sunday, June 25. Wymore is running a competitive campaign on New York’s Upper West Side and if elected will become the first-ever transgender elected official in any major U.S. city. He is also New York’s first transgender candidate for public office.
Wymore is running for the highest-profile office of any viable transgender candidate in 2017. A 29-year community activist and organizer, and former chair of Community Board 7, his campaign is fully-funded and his candidacy has attracted widespread support. In 2013, he won the endorsement of the New York Times.
Said Wymore, “When I first ran in 2013, being transgender was more than just unusual. It feels like a short time ago, but 2013 was before trans visibility and acceptance really began to gather steam—before hit TV shows like Orange is the New Black and Transparent, before the fight over North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2, before high-profile celebrity transitions. The changes we’ve seen in these short four years are extraordinary, and worthy of celebration.
“For centuries, LGBTQ people have had to suppress the most life-giving aspects of their identity in order to survive in society. To be your authentic self was to attract ridicule, exclusion or violence. Pride marks a social shift—an attempt to end that suppression. Pride pushes each of us to bravely and openly love ourselves and each other without fear or shame. This year, we continue that tradition, prouder than ever and ready for the fights ahead.”
