Getty Images Foto, August 15, 2018
Christine Hallquist has just made U.S. history.
After winning the Democratic primary on August 14, the former CEO of power utility Vermont Electric Cooperative is the first transgender person to be nominated for governor by a major party.
The news was lauded by several politicians and celebrities, including a certain popular senator from Vermont who easily won his own primary race:
Christine Hallquist, pictured above with her cinematographer son, Derek, at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival premiere of his biographical documentary about her, “Denial”, made the decision to come out as a transgender woman in 2015 during the filming of that movie.
On election night, she tweeted, “I want to remind everyone, running for Governor is not the greatest challenge I have ever faced” — perhaps a nod toward the tough race she now faces against Republican incumbent Phil Scott. [Steve: Perhaps a reference to the sometimes-painful process of transgendering.]
On Twitter, many famous members of the LGBTQ community made it known they had her back for her uphill battle.