TS/TV/CD Love Blog – Because Of Your Uniqueness

I’d like to think that the voters of Aurora, Colorado will take a close look at Pam Bennett when she runs for their city council, and not make her gender an issue or part of her campaign.

Pam Bennett was born Bruce Bennett in the 1950s. Now, she wants to be a city councilwoman.

Bennett said she always knew she was transgendered, even though she has two kids and is still married to a woman.

Bennett said she served in the U.S. Air Force from 1972 to 1976 but that the only picture of her taken in uniform is lost. She now serves on both the Cultural Affairs and Veterans Affairs Commissions for the city.

She said she’ll run a clean, non-partisan campaign focused on smart growth for Aurora, drawing on experience from the oil and gas industry, as well as the aerospace field.

“I am beyond ready,” Bennett said. “This is not like any other race. This is going to be a tough race, an expensive race, a hard race. There’s going to be a lot going on and I want to be in it.”

Bennett knows this race will draw plenty of attention but believes the people of Aurora are ready for her in a leadership role.

Bennett also told the Aurora Sentinel and Daily Sun that her campaign strategy is openness, and that she believes voters will accept her unique biography once they understand her vision for Aurora’s future.

Bennett is an Air Force veteran who began hormone replacement therapy in 2003 as part of the process of changing from a man to a woman, though she has not had sex-reassignment surgery.

Bennett told the Sentinel that she gained the courage to finally become a woman after battling a life-threatening illness for nearly a decade.

She was diagnosed with Hepatitis B and C in 1994 after receiving a blood transfusion when her stomach hemorrhaged 14 years earlier, the newspaper reported. Bennett said she believes that is how she contracted the viruses.

Bennett legally changed her first and middle name in 1994. She told the Sentinel, “America has moved forward enough that I don’t have to hide. This is Pam. I’m actually me. The feminization is just part of the process.”

Bennett said she has always had an interest in politics. She volunteers for the Red Cross and campaigns for some Democrats including her friend and roommate, Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora.

Bennett supports redevelopment initiatives in hopes of bringing new life to existing neighborhoods without expanding the city’s borders, the Sentinel reported.

She also supports bringing jobs as well as cultural arts and events to Aurora. She said she supports the city’s voter-mandated ratio of two police officers for every 1,000 residents.

There are at least three transgendered elected officials currently holding office in the United States, two at the city level and one at the state level.

Best of luck Pam!

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