The next mayor of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, will be a man claiming he is a woman.
Erica Deuso, a Democrat, is a self-proclaimed so-called transgender “female,” marking the first such individual elected to a mayoral position in Pennsylvania history.
“I approach my life as being a good neighbor,” he said in comments to WPVI-TV. “I want to be somebody who can be a role model as well. I may be the first, but I’m not going to be the last.”
Downingtown, which is west of Philadelphia, elected Deuso with a decisive 65 percent of the vote.
“It didn’t matter about my history or my identity. What matters is that I’m going to be that neighbor they can count on,” Deuso added.
“I’ve gotten more questions about our good neighbor Christmas parade than I have about my gender identity.”
Deuso nevertheless made his self-proclaimed status as a woman central to his victory.
“Tonight, the numbers are clear,” Deuso said in a statement, according to a report from WHYY.
“We won. Voters chose hope, decency, and a community where every neighbor matters. I am honored to be elected as Pennsylvania’s first openly transgender mayor,” he said.
“I carry that responsibility with care and with purpose.”
Deuso’s campaign account had produced some measure of controversy after he replied to a Department of Homeland Security post by saying “I forsee violent pushback from an armed citizenry in the future.”
“The 2nd Amendment folx were very clear that weapons are meant to oppose a tyrannical government,” he continued.
When contacted by The Christian Post about the comments, Deuso denied that he was making a threat.
“That post wasn’t a call for violence. I don’t support violence in any form,” Deuso told the outlet.
“Our government has too often ignored the rights of its own people, and history shows what happens when that disrespect goes too far; Boston Harbor once had tea floating in it for a reason,” he added.
“The point I was making is that trust and accountability matter.”
“When leaders listen and take responsibility, tensions go down instead of up. My message was about preventing conflict, not causing it,” Deuso continued.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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