This past Monday Venezuela held parliamentary elections in which the opposition Democratic Unity Movement (MUD) claimed a sizable majority.

One of the winning candidates was transgender woman Tamara Adrian. The 61-year-old lawyer managed to do this in a country which does not recognize gender reassignment.

She became only the second transgender legislator in the western hemisphere, after Michelle Suárez of Uruguay.

The lawyer and activist was one of the 99 Democratic Unity politicians to win a seat at the National Assembly. She received an incredible 74.25% share of the votes.

Adrian intends to use her political platform to overhaul the country’s “macho” culture, boost gender equality, and fight for the rights of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population.

In Venezuela we don't have any rights.

There are some precarious and isolated rules on the issue of non-discrimination and in the labor sector, but nothing more. We hope to have a law on marriage equality very soon

--Adrian, speaking about the LGBT community

In her campaign for the seat in the National Assembly, Ms. Adrian was forced to run under her birth name Tomás Adrian, despite undergoing reassignment surgery in 2002.

Argentina legaliized same-sex marriage in 2010. Brazil and Uruguay did so in 2013. The Mexican Supreme Court has been ruling in favor of gay and lesbian couples uniting this year.

Adrián says her strategy will be to offer a “differential approach” to legislation, by incorporating the LGBT agenda into laws intended to tackle poverty, violence and education.