Trans candidates often face personal attacks — just not from fellow Democrats

Campaign materials for Giona Picheco’s run for the District 14 seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives described her as a child of working-class parents, first-generation college graduate, U.S. Navy veteran, and community activist.

Her incumbent opponent zeroed in on something else.

Mailers sent from Democratic Rep. Charlene Lima’s campaign a few weeks before the Sept. 10 primary called Picheco a “left-wing extremist” with “radical ideas.” Bullet points claimed Picheco “supports teaching SEX for pleasure in grammar school,” and “wants biological boys who identify as transgender girls to play in all girls sports.”

The allegations were accompanied by a circa-2020 photo of Picheco, taken from her personal Facebook page. She looks similar to her present-day appearance, but with shorter hair.

“I wasn’t personally offended,” Picheco said in an interview. “I like that photo of me. But I knew exactly what she was implying. She wanted to frame me as if I am actually a man.”

Picheco lost the Sept. 10 Democratic primary in the district covering northwest Cranston and Providence’s Silver Lake neighborhood by 20 percentage points, with fewer than 700 votes cast according to results from the Rhode Island Board of Elections. Lima was unopposed in the Nov. 5 general election.

It was a longshot candidacy, even in Picheco’s second battle against Lima, who was backed by top officials including U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner. Incumbents prevailed in all but one contested state legislative primary.

Picheco lost by a similar margin when she first challenged Lima, a 32-year incumbent, in the 2022 Democratic primary

If elected, Picheco, 35, would have been the first transgender official to win state office in Rhode Island. She sat down with Rhode Island Current for a recent interview to talk about her experience.

Twenty-four states, along with D.C., have elected trans officials to some level of state or local office as of June 2023, though trans and nonbinary officials represent less than .0002% of officeholders nationwide, according to 2023 data from the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.

Backlash and threats against trans candidates and officeholders are well-documented. U.S. Rep.-elect Sarah McBride’s historic victory in November, becoming the first openly trans member of Congress, led to a fight over bathroom access on Capitol Hill.

In Washington, Republicans are the ones pushing for transgender bathroom restrictions.

But Picheco’s attacks came from a fellow Democrat, part of the same party that espouses inclusivity and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. Lima — who has held the District 14 seat since 1992 — is part of a shrinking, but vocal, contingent of pro-gun and pro-life Smith Hill lawmakers who identify as Democrats, despite voting records that seem, at times, at odds with the party platform.

During the pandemic, Lima opposed school masking requirements. She voted against expanded voting access laws, including enshrining early, in-person voting, in 2022, and opposed decarbonization mandates under the 2021 Act on Climate Law.

Lima was also among the most vocal proponents for reinstating annual cost-of-living increases to state pensioners, which were partially reinstated as part of the fiscal 2025 budget. The compounded increases were suspended as part of a series of pension reforms enacted in 2011 under then-Treasurer Gina Raimondo. Lima benefits directly from the reinstatement of cost-of-living increases as a former Providence public school teacher. She retired in 2010.

She defended the mailer in a recent interview.

“Everything I said was totally documented,” Lima said. “I think the flyer portrayed the transparent, accurate facts.”

Rep. Charlene Lima, a Cranston Democrat and retired Providence schoolteacher, is shown on the House floor on June 9, 2023, speaking against the 2011 pension reform that ended cost-of-living adjustments for state retirees. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)

Party vs. priorities

The Working Families Party in Rhode Island endorsed and provided volunteer canvassing support for Picheco in both her 2022 and 2024 campaigns. Lima’s positions were at odds with the Democratic party, and more importantly, the district, said Zack Mezera, the state chapter’s organizing director.

“The party often does not match the priorities of the person,” Mezera said. “That’s true in a lot of places, not just Rhode Island. But here, the threshold to winning is lower because there are fewer voters in each district.”

To Mezera, Lima’s attacks on Picheco’s gender only underscored the disconnect between the sitting representative and voters.

“What a missed opportunity to talk about persistent flooding, wage gaps, the struggles of nursing home and child care workers, all the things that people in the district actually live with and care about,” Mezera said of Lima’s mailer. “I think Charlene expects the very least of her constituents.”

Picheco said she entered the race knowing there was the potential her gender would be used against her.

“I wasn’t necessarily concerned for myself or my own safety,” Picheco said. “I was just more so concerned about how, if I was attacked, how that would be perceived by the wider trans community.”

In an emailed statement Friday, Chip Unruh, a spokesperson for Reed, said the senior senator “does not support attacks on anyone’s gender.”

Magaziner and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, who donated to Lima’s campaign, also affirmed their support for the LGBTQ+ community in separate statements, insisting they did not know about the mailers.

“Speaker Shekarchi supported all the House Democratic incumbents, including Representative Lima,” Larry Berman, a spokesperson, said in an email. “He was not aware of this mailer and he does not get involved in the messaging in Representatives’ campaigns.”

Shekarchi also referenced his support for a new state law shielding medical providers from civil or criminal action for offering access to transgender and reproductive health services.

What was said at a Cranston School Committee meeting

One of the claims made in Lima’s campaign mailers references a July 15 Cranston School Committee meeting where Picheco spoke in public. Lima did not attend, despite alleging Picheco made comments that she wanted to let “biological boys who identify as transgender girls” play girls sports.

“It’s public knowledge,” Lima said when asked how she knew what Picheco said.

During the meeting, Picheco asked the school committee to follow existing state and federal policy and “to provide a safe learning environment for all students, including trans students as well,” according to official minutes from the meeting. Sports were not mentioned at all.

Regarding the mailer statement that Picheco wanted “SEX for pleasure” taught in elementary school, the 2022 bill referenced would have modernized sex education curriculum for students in grades six to 12 to be more inclusive of different races, genders, ethnic and cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations, and to “affirmatively recognize pleasure-based sexual relations.”

Picheco wrote in support of the bill sponsored by Providence Democratic Rep. Rebecca Kislak, although it never advanced out of committee.

“I have absolutely no negative feelings toward members of the LGBT community,” Lima said. “I think all people should be treated with respect and fairly. I don’t think any group should be imposing on young girls. We have to use common sense and reason nowadays.”

Picheco never confronted Lima about the mailers. She didn’t think it was worth her time.

And she wanted her campaign to stay focused on the issues.

“Being trans, that’s not why I am running for office,” she said. “I am committed to advocating for everybody in my district, trans or not.”

Picheco’s endorsements included Climate Action Rhode Island, Planned Parenthood, the Rhode Island chapter of SEIU and VoteVets, a national advocacy group for veterans and military families.

Picheco, who grew up in Connecticut, enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 23 as a way to pay for college. She spent six years working on a nuclear-powered submarine stationed out of Groton in a role she described as a “very technical job with a lot of computers.” Her military service gave her a chance to pursue her education dreams, and the confidence to be open about her identity. It was also where she met her partner, with whom she now owns a home in Cranston.

After she completed her service in 2019, Picheco slowly began more openly identifying and talking about being trans. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from the University of Rhode Island in 2023. She’s now working toward a master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she also teaches undergraduate students.

Picheco now shrugs off the mailer as “kind of uncreative.”

Certainly not a deterrent to potentially running again.

“I’m not ruling it out,” Picheco said. “I’m someone who pretty much constantly looks forward.”

Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and X.