Transgender activist runs for mayor of Idaho town

Transgender activist runs for mayor of Idaho town

By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press Writer

Saturday, September 5, 2009

(09-05) 10:02 PDT Nampa, Idaho (AP) --

About a block from a street concert in downtown Nampa, Melissa Sue Robinson strolls with purpose into a trendy coffee shop — the unofficial liberal embassy of this sprawling Republican stronghold in southwest Idaho.

Dressed in a cream-colored pantsuit, a political flier clutched in one hand, a soft brown leather purse in the other, she orders a mocha and takes a seat as a group of teenagers stare at her from near the door.

The 58-year-old was born male and still carries the slightly larger-than-an-average-woman build of Charles Staelens Jr., who legally changed his name and underwent surgery in 1998 to become a woman.

She also kept his voice.

He was married for 17 years, owned a construction company, and was a Republican when he ran for city council in Lansing, Mich., where he was raised with his identical twin brother until their parents divorced in the 1960s.

Now she says she is celibate, a telecommunications worker who is "just another cog in the machine," and a Democrat who in 2004 became the first transgender to run for the state legislature in Michigan.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/05/national/a100201D53.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0QFpLSsRS