New Dem lawmaker hangs trans flag outside office on Capitol Hill

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) placed a transgender flag outside of her office on Capitol Hill on the day of her swearing-in ceremony Thursday.

Narissa Rahaman, a regional field organizer at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), shared a photo of the trans flag displayed next to the Virginia flag outside of Wexton’s new office.

{mosads}Rahaman wrote on Facebook that the moment “truly brought me to tears.”

“The congresswoman said to me, ‘Did you see the flag? I think we’re the only office on the Hill with one,’” Rahaman wrote.

“Thank you to everyone who knocked a door and made a phone call on this campaign. This flag is there because of you and for you! My heart is full,” she added.

“The trans community has been under attack. I wanted to show my solidarity because we are talking about my friends and family,” Wexton said in a statement to The Hill.

Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, endorsed Wexton’s campaign to unseat Republican Barbara Comstock in June.

Wexton, a former member of the Virginia General Assembly, fought for state legislation to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people and their families, the HRC said in a statement. She also supported bills to expand the state’s hate crimes statue to include crimes against the LGBTQ community.

“Jennifer Wexton is a proven leader who will stand up in the U.S. Congress for Virginia’s working families and help pull the emergency brakes on the Trump-Pence administration’s reckless agenda,” JoDee Winterhof, HRC senior vice president for policy and political affairs, said in a statement. 

Updated at 4:51 p.m.