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Transgender mayor Jess Herbst makes history in Texas amid fierce debate over LGBT rights
The mayor of a town in a conservative area of Texas has become the first openly transgender official in the state.
Jess Herbst, who was appointed mayor of New Hope in May last year after the previous mayor died, issued an open letter on the town's website, saying she wanted to reveal "something that has been with me since my earliest memories".
"I am Transgender,” Herbst wrote, adding that two years ago, she began hormone replacement therapy. “At the time, I did not imagine I would hold the Mayor’s position, but here I am.”
Before being appointed to the post, Herbst had been elected to the Town Council as an alderman.
"I know that transgender people are just coming to light in our society, and we have made great strides in the last few years," she said.
"My daughters have been adamant supporters of me and are proud to tell people their father is transgender," she added.
With a population of 670, New Hope is a small town in Collin County, which is considered one of the most conservative suburban areas in Texas. President Donald Trump won by 17 percentage points in the general election.
The state has become the latest to introduce a controversial "bathroom bill", aimed at protecting women from sexual assault in public bathrooms. The Texas Privacy Act would make it illegal for people to use a public bathroom corresponding to a gender other than that on their birth certificate.
It comes after North Carolina's Senate last month voted against repeal of the law that restricts transgender restroom access and that put the state at the centre of national debate over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.
In early January, Ms Herbst took to Facebook to criticise Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for pushing the bill.
“Mr. Patrick: Let me get this straight, are you saying that right now, without your bill being passed, anyone can assault someone in the bathroom without breaking the law?” Ms Herbst wrote. “That [sic] some some kind of weird screwed-up loophole if so.”