Trans Woman Holds Political Office 

for Three Terms

Jessica Orsini was born Jeffrey Orsini in 1967. She lives openly as transgender or trans woman. Koyama states, “Trans woman is at times used to refer to those individuals who identify, present or live more or less as women despite their birth sex assignment to the contrary.”

Jessica Orsini was elected in 2006 by the people to be the United States Alderwoman for Ward III of Centralia, Missouri. She was elected two more times in 2008 and 2010; however, she declined to run for a fourth term in 2012. She lost her first bid for office, in part, she feels, because she was “outed” in the local newspaper. After her loss, the mayor called and asked her to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Two years later, she ran for Alderman again and won.

Orsini says that she knew her feelings about her identifying with the female gender early in life.  She finally decided to takes steps toward transitioning when she was in the air force, which she explained to an air-force counselor. The day after her meeting, her office was locked and they attempted to kick her out of the air-force. She moved to Ohio with the intention of transitioning. After two years on hormone replacement therapy and counseling, she had her gender reassignment surgery in 1998 and moved to Centralia in 2002.

Koyama explains, “as trans women, we have learned that our safety is often dependent on how well we can “pass” as “normal” women.” Orsini did indicated she had faced difficulties with discrimination, but she said, “once people actually get to know you and have to work with you and deal with you, that goes away and people will treat you like a person and that’s what’s happened to me up in Centralia.”

Jessica Orsini

Website reference:

http://web.missouri.edu/~edcgqd/FinalProject/JessicaOrsini.html