Women and Politics Part 1: Tamara Adrián and Petra De Sutter

Since we are in the middle of the primary season,

Today I am starting a series on interesting women in politics from around the world.

Tamara Adrián, born in 1954, is a Venezuelan politician who was elected to the National Assembly of Venezuela in the 2015 parliamentary election. She was the first transgender person elected to office in Venezuela and the second transgender member of a national legislature in the Western Hemisphere. She became the alternate deputy in Venezuela's National Assembly. Adrián is a member of the Popular Will party, which opposes the PSUV-led government of Nicolás Maduro. She has organized a social movement called Pro-Inclusion, aiming to promote equal rights. Adrián took her oath of office on January 14, 2015, and plans to promote access to public records on identity, same-sex marriage, and human rights. She also was the first openly transgender person in the world to register as a presidential candidate in 2023

Petra De Sutter born in 1963 is a Belgian gynaecologist and politician, currently serving as federal Deputy Prime Minister. In the 2014 European elections, De Sutter was second on the Flemish Green party's list, but the party missed a second seat. She was co-opted by her party for a seat in the Belgian Senate, becoming the first openly transgender Belgian to be on a party election list. On October 1, 2020, De Sutter was sworn in as one of seven deputy prime ministers in the government of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, becoming Europe's first transgender deputy prime minister and the most senior trans politician in Europe.