Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton raised a transgender flag outside her Capitol Hill office as one of her first acts as a newly sworn-in member of Congress.
Immediately after being sworn in as Virginia’s Tenth District congresswoman, Wexton raised the blue, white, and pink transgender flag right next to her Virginia State flag in the hallway outside her office:
The trans flag is proudly & openly displayed next to the Virginia flag outside @RepWexton’s new office! She said to me, “Did you see the flag?! I think we’re the only office on the Hill with one.” To all her volunteers: the flag is there because of you & for you! Change is here! pic.twitter.com/s0iGgoxOgH
— Narissa Rahaman (@MayorBrown) January 3, 2019
Wexton claimed that she raised the flag because she has a relative whose son is transgender.
“The trans community has been under attack,” Wexton told the Washingtonian. “I wanted to show my solidarity because we are talking about my friends and family.”
As a member of the Virginia legislature, Wexton was a champion for gays, having had a hand in passing several gay rights bills.
While not widely known, Monica Helms, a transgender individual, created the transgender flag in 1999.
The flag is made up of five horizontal stripes. Two stripes are in light blue, two pink, and in the center, a single white stripe.
Explaining the significance of the design, Helms said, “The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls,” and “the white stripe is for people that are nonbinary, feel that they don’t have a gender.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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