Michigan Could Elect Openly Trans Woman to State Legislature for the First Time

Michigan is on track to welcome its first openly transgender woman to serve as a state representative.

Erin in the Morning readers likely first met Joanna Whaley in April or May of this year, when we reported that the 38-year-old hospital chaplain was running to be the state representative in Michigan’s 2nd House District. She had been temporarily knocked off the ballot because her opponent in the Democratic primary, Frank Liberati, contested her eligibility, arguing her name change documents were invalid and therefore disqualifying.

This maneuver didn’t work. Whaley beat Liberati and one other opponent in the Aug. 4 primary with 56% of the vote, with the second-place candidate trailing over 20 points behind. It was a margin of victory that surprised even Whaley. Now, Erin in the Morning can re-introduce her as the official Democratic nominee for Michigan’s 2nd House District.

She will face off against Republican Ronald Kokinda. But this district leans Democratic, making Whaley the predicted winner of the general election this November. If she crosses that finish line, she will be the first transgender woman to serve in the Michigan Legislature.

While equal rights for transgender people remains a priority, Whaley emphasized that she hopes to represent all constituents. She is campaigning primarily on issues like cost of living, health care access, and public safety. She also denounced corporate money and Christian nationalism as key culprits behind America’s democracy in decline.

“I had a pastor who would, from the pulpit, would say, if you listen to anything other than Fox News, you’re letting the devil into your house,” she told Erin in the Morning. “As a pastor myself, I think that is a terrible, terrible mistake to let a pastor think for you.”

The seat Whaley seeks is currently held by Democratic Rep. Tullio Liberati, the brother of Frank Liberati, who tried to get Whaley booted from the ballot. The current representative, Tullio, was one of eight Democrats who crossed party lines to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the Michigan High School Athletic Association to discriminate against trans people.

Whaley faces unique obstacles that cisgender candidates may not. In addition to opponents trying to weaponize name and gender marker changes for political gain, trans people are plagued by an endless stream of questions about “electability.” In New Hampshire, for example, State Rep. Alice Wade recently said she was pressured not to run for higher office by a fellow Democrat who cast doubt on whether a trans woman could win in their state.

“I just remember standing in the poll lines,” Whaley said, recounting the primary. “Trans person after trans person, parents of trans kids — coming up to me and saying, ‘You’re making us feel like we can come out of our house again.’”

Meanwhile, Whaley said one of her highest campaign expenses was a security detail due to the sheer volume of anti-trans threats of violence that she receives.

But she credits her time in seminary and the two decades she spent at an evangelical megachurch — an experience that included surviving coercive anti-LGBT conversion therapy — with giving her a unique ability to connect with voters across backgrounds. “I speak fluent Republican,” she told Erin in the Morning. The proud parent added: “The term ‘family’ does not belong to conservatives.”

She admits change will take time, but she said she’s ready to be part of that process. “I don’t think I’m going see the fruits of some of this labor,” Whaley explained. “But it’s just continuing to be that voice of, you know, letting someone’s grandmother hear: ‘Oh my gosh, this trans person talked about something I never thought they would. They talk about loving their family. I thought Fox News told me they hated family.’ I think that that stuff’s gonna matter in the long term.”

Whaley said she will not back down in the fight for civil rights, including those of trans Michiganders. “I’m going to go into the belly of the beast for you,” she said.

Although many outlets are reporting that she will be the first transgender representative there, period, Rep. Emily Dievendorf, of the 77th House District, is nonbinary, and has served since 2022.