Democratic Party has its first transgender candidates for Congress

DENVER, June 29 (UPI) -- For the first time in a major political party, two transgender women -- both with the first name Misty -- won their U.S. Congress primaries in Colorado and Utah on Tuesday.

Misty K. Snow will run against Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a Tea Party favorite, in Utah. Snow is a 30-year-old grocery store clerk from Salt Lake City who beat her primary opponent by nearly 20 percent.

Misty Plowright will run against Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn for Colorado's 5th congressional district, the most conservative district in the Centennial State. Plowright is a 33-year-old who works in IT. She won more than 57 percent of the vote in the primary.

Bob Witeck, a Washington-based LGBT advocate and a consultant on LGBT issues, told The Washington Post the victory has been a long time coming for the transgender community and the LGBT community as a whole.

"LGBT people tend to say: 'Aren't we past all the firsts?' We've done so many firsts, but for the transgender community, this has been waiting in the wings," Witeck said. "This is even more breathtaking considering the political climate today, the uphill curve to educate people about who transgender people are."

According to a CNN/ORC poll conducted in May, about 85 percent of people do not have a friend or family member who is transgender.