IHT.com – The Associated Press
Honolulu: A Hawaii woman won a seat on the state Board of Education and, according to national advocacy groups, a place in history as the nation’s highest-ranking transgender elected official.
Kim Coco Iwamoto, a 38-year-old attorney, did not tout her gender status in the campaign but has advocated for transgender youth and related issues. She came in third Tuesday in the competition for three seats on the 14-member board, which governs the islands’ 285 public schools.
Iwamoto would be the highest-ranking openly transgender person elected in the United States, said Denis Dison, a spokesman for the Victory Fund, a Washington-based group that tracks lesbian, gay and transgender candidates and helps fund their campaigns.