How West Virginia's first transgender elected official is influencing local politics

WHEELING, W.Va. -- When Rosemary Ketchum gets introduced arsenic the archetypal openly transgender idiosyncratic to triumph elective bureau successful West Virginia, there's often a shocked look that comes crossed people's faces.

“Folks volition beryllium like, ‘How did that happen?’ As if it's similar I won the lottery oregon solved a Rubik's Cube successful beforehand of them oregon something,” she said. "They deliberation it’s magic."

To her, it doesn't consciousness similar magic. But successful immoderate ways, she tin recognize their surprise. Out of the fistful of transgender officials successful the U.S., lone a fewer were elected successful likewise rural, GOP-controlled states.

Ketchum, 29, is 1 of them. And adjacent week, she could beryllium elected again — this clip arsenic politician of Wheeling, a erstwhile ember and alloy accumulation hub that's astir 60 miles (97 kilometers) extracurricular Pittsburgh.

Growing up, she said she saw businesses shutter, and radical conflict to find lodging and intelligence wellness enactment amid the opioid epidemic. Her tone is optimistic though, and she often comes backmost to a representation of archetypal encountering "the affable city” motto of Wheeling connected a invited sign.

“I didn’t tally for metropolis assembly to marque past — I ran to marque a quality successful my community," she said, of her information to run.

Wheeling is simply a metropolis of 26,000 residents with a unsocial spot successful West Virginia history. It's nestled successful the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, on the Ohio River successful an country that divided from Virginia and the Confederacy successful 1863.

More than a period later, a radical representation hangs successful Wheeling’s metropolis hall. Ketchum is intolerable to miss: Standing adjacent to 7 men successful suits, she is wearing a reddish formal and achromatic heels, and has platinum blonde hair. She stands retired successful meetings too, with her painted-red nails and laptop adorned with a Taylor Swift sticker.

At a caller assembly meeting, she asked questions astir pending h2o and sewer projects, thanked metropolis employees for their enactment and urged residents exposed to caller flooding to get tetanus shots astatine the section wellness department.

For Ketchum, going to assemblage — fto unsocial moving successful authorities — was not successful the cards.

When she was successful precocious school, a tragic location occurrence leveled the family's location and rendered the household homeless. They didn’t person location security oregon savings, and had to determination temporarily into a neighbor's basement.

“We didn't person a backup plan,” she said. "And unfortunately, a batch of blue-collar families are successful that aforesaid boat.”

After the fire, Ketchum arrived successful Wheeling arsenic a 16-year-old successful the midst of a sex transition. The household received nutrient stamps, and Ketchum worked arsenic a bartender aft precocious school. She aboriginal became the archetypal successful her household to postgraduate assemblage — and credits being capable to unrecorded successful nationalist lodging for enabling her to bash so.

She aboriginal served arsenic subordinate manager of the city's section National Alliance connected Mental Illness section — a occupation that combined with her lived acquisition to signifier the mode she approaches nationalist policy.

In 2023, Ketchum was 1 of lone 2 metropolis officials to ballot against an ordinance designed to wide stateless encampments. She helped found the city's archetypal interior presumption focused connected homelessness — to assistance radical successful uncovering intelligence wellness support, imperishable lodging and employment.

Ketchum answers matter-of-factly erstwhile radical inquire her however she got elected arsenic an openly transgender candidate: she enactment her sanction connected the ballot, knocked connected doors, made telephone calls to inquire residents what they attraction about, and past trusted them to marque a decision.

“I didn’t pre-ordain oregon presume what they would deliberation of maine — I gave them the accidental to deliberation for themselves,” she said. “I didn’t locomotion up to a door, and accidental like, ‘Oh, this idiosyncratic has a Trump sign, they’re going to hatred me.’”

Wheeling is the spot of Ohio County, wherever 38% of voters registered arsenic Republicans successful 2023, compared with 34% registered Democrats, according to authorities data. City assembly positions are nonpartisan.

Ketchum has immoderate constituents who person either ne'er met a transgender idiosyncratic earlier — oregon the thought of sex nonconformity makes them uncomfortable. But she sees that arsenic a trial of enactment and information to enactment harder to code the community's concerns, ranging from accessible nationalist transit to enactment for tiny businesses.

“I deliberation it’s fascinating that idiosyncratic mightiness say, ’You cognize what, those trans radical connected television, connected the net — I don’t cognize astir that, but I person to accidental that a trans idiosyncratic helped maine pave my roadworthy oregon capable my pothole oregon trim the histrion successful my beforehand gait oregon hole my sidewalk,'" she said.

Kellie Ahmad, a section creator and unpaid connected Ketchum's campaign, said she greatly respects however Ketchum handles her detractors.

“She adjacent has radical who are vitriolically hateful towards her calling her and saying, ‘There’s a batch adjacent maine that needs to beryllium mowed — tin you get that done?’" Ahmad said. “Which conscionable goes to show, ‘I mightiness fundamentally disagree with who you are arsenic a person, but you’re effective.'”

Dianne Ketchum, Rosemary’s mother, said it wasn’t casual to spot Ketchum participate the satellite of politics. She had seen however arsenic a child, her girl was bullied due to the fact that of her sex identity.

But the satellite has changed since that time, and perceptions of transgender radical successful the portion are starting to shift. People similar Ketchum are a large portion of that, Dianne Ketchum said, noting she's seen radical speaking astir transgender radical with much tolerance and knowing since her girl took office.

“A batch of radical person changed their minds due to the fact that they met my daughter,” Dianne Ketchum said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the assembly made Wheeling the lone metropolis successful West Virginia to state racism a nationalist wellness crisis. Then they banned conversion therapy, a almighty if symbolic move.

Ketchum said erstwhile she’s canvassing, radical aren’t talking astir what bathrooms they deliberation transgender radical should beryllium capable to use, oregon whether kids should beryllium speechmaking books with LGBTQ+ characters successful school. People often privation to speech astir repaving their roadworthy oregon worries astir however galore young radical are leaving the authorities — 1 of lone 2 states wherever the colonisation declined successful the 2020 census.

“That gives maine much respect, frankly, for my neighbors,” Ketchum said. GOP lawmakers’ absorption connected books bans and bath entree whitethorn pull attraction statewide and nationally, but “it doesn’t enactment astatine a section level -- it doesn’t register,” she said.

She said galore radical person developed an apathy oregon distrust of government. But she doesn't prosecute with cynicism. Instead, she gives constituents her idiosyncratic telephone fig and holds regular bureau hours astatine a section marketplace wherever anyone tin travel by to talk with her.

Ketchum talks astir making streets safer for pedestrians, revitalizing the downtown area, and navigating the delicate equilibrium betwixt preserving and restoring the ornate but blighted structures passim the city. She beams with pridefulness erstwhile sharing advancement connected the rehabilitation of a historical suspension span — 1 starring to a metropolis land wherever she worked astatine a family-owned bar.

“Sometimes, we telephone it ‘the affable city’ and that seems similar an aspiration due to the fact that we’re dealing with truthful overmuch hostility and there’s a generational disagreement successful immoderate mode — peculiarly successful politics,” she said. “But I spot it present each day. We're getting somewhere.”