Barnes, who has struggled with the fear that becoming a public figure could end up hurting her family still living in Pacifica, decided that public serive was a lifelong goal and worth the risk of media attention that is certain to come.
Five years ago a former Las Vegas transgender showgirl barely lost in her bid to become mayor of the small town of Yountville located in the Wine Country north of San Francisco. She was the focus of intense publicity, most of which was positive.
Barnes joked about her past life as a closeted person telling Pacifica Tribune editor Chris Hunter "The only thing still in my closet is an evening gown I'm going to wear to my inauguration."
In a nicely written article, Hunter quoted Barnes as saying "I'm running for council and that's all. I have a lot of qualities on which people can base their votes. If I could run and get elected and nobody would use that word (transexual), I'd be thrilled."
Barnes is running against nine other candidates.
"For 18 years I have been a government contract negotiator and administrator," she said. "I have lived and worked in San Bruno for the past decade so I am no newcomer to San Bruno."
She has been living exclusively as a woman for the past year and plans to have SRS in November following the election. It will be the last step in a lifetime journey to discover her true nature.
Crippled by a dissolving hip bone as a child, Barnes discovered something different about herself early in life. "I remember first cross-dressing when I was on crutches and liking it," she said.
Before running for public office, Barnes had to learn to face the public as a woman. "I found the safest place to practice was in the mausoleums at the cemetery," she said. "I knew nobody would ever see me."
Guilt filled much of Barnes adult life. Overcoming guilt has been her recent personal triumph. "There are a lot of men who are happy sleeping in a lady's nightgown next to their wives," Barnes said. "But a transexual feels they are in the wrong gender. In my case I don't know which came first. I thought I was a transvestite, but I wasn't. How do I know I'm a transexual? Because it is the right thing."
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