Stu Rasmussen, 73, First Openly Transgender Mayor in America, Dies
The New York Times
The mayor, who served two terms in Silverton, Ore., defied many conventions, gender being just one of them.
Stu Rasmussen, who in 2008 became what is believed to be the first openly transgender mayor in America, died on Nov. 17 at his home in Silverton, Ore., where he had served in various elected offices for the better part of 30 years. Mr. Rasmussen, who identified as a woman but typically used masculine pronouns, was 73.
His wife, Victoria Sage, said the cause was prostate cancer.
Silverton, an agricultural community with about 9,200 residents and a jewel box of a downtown, sits about an hour south of Portland and a half hour east of Salem, the state capital. Despite an influx of people that tripled the population since Mr. Rasmussen was young, it was hardly the sort of place one might expect to find such a pathbreaking politician.
