Stu Rasmussen
Stu Rasmussen (born 1948) is an American politician. He became the nation's first openly transgender mayor when he was elected as the mayor of Silverton, Oregon in November 2008.[1][2]
Stu Rasmussen | |
---|---|
Mayor of Silverton, Oregon | |
In office January 2009 – January 2015 | |
Preceded by | Ken Hector |
Succeeded by | Rick Lewis |
Personal details | |
Born | 1948 (age 72–73) Silverton, Oregon, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic (since 1996) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (before 1996) |
He had previously been elected twice in the 1990s as mayor of this Willamette Valley community, before coming out as transgender.[3] He was also three times a member of the city council.[4] He was assigned male at birth, identifies as a man, prefers masculine pronouns, has breast implants, and has a feminine gender expression.[5] He sometimes goes by the name Carla Fong.[5]
Rasmussen unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives in 1994 as an independent, and a seat in the Oregon State Senate in 1996 as a Democrat. He ran for the House again in 1998 as a Democrat, losing with 41% of the vote.[6]
In 2013 a musical about Rasmussen, Stu for Silverton, premiered at Seattle's Intiman Theatre.[5][7][8]
Rasmussen, a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal,[2][4] served as city councilor until January 2009.[9]
Rasmussen has co-owned Silverton's 1936 Palace Theater, which shows first-run movies, since 1974.[10]
References
- Stu Rasmussen. "Reality Check". Retrieved December 19, 2011.
- "Oregon town elects nation's first transgender mayor". Associated Press. November 8, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
- Question, Big (November 9, 2008). "US election diary: The sex change we can all believe in - Americas, World - The Independent". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- Friar, Cathryn. "Stu Rasmussen is Transgendered Mayor » Right Pundits". Rightpundits.com. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- Ng, David (November 29, 2012). "New musical about transgender mayor heading to Intiman Theatre". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
- "Rasmussen, Stu". Our Campaigns. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- Berson, Misha (July 23, 2013). "'Stu for Silverton' sings about small-town tolerance". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013.
- Berson, Misha (July 23, 2013). "Meet the real Stu from musical 'Stu for Silverton'". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013.
- "City of Silverton, OR > Government > City Council". Webservices.orcities.org. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- Drawhorn, Ornie (November 2011). "Keeping up in a digital age: Palace plans high tech upgrades". Our Town Live. Retrieved January 25, 2014.