The North Adams City Council has elected a transgender-identifying male its new president.

The Council unanimously voted to make Democrat Ashley Shade its new president for 2026, iBerkshires reports.

Shade, a male who identifies as a female, was sworn in on New Year's Day during the council’s inaugural ceremony at North Adams City Hall after winning a third two-year term in the November 2025 municipal election. Shade is the first openly transgender-identifying person to serve as president of the North Adams City Council.

Shade said Shade's decision to seek public office was influenced by the election of openly transgender lawmakers in other parts of the country.

“I ran because I was inspired by people like Danica Roem and Andrea Jenkins, who became the first openly trans people elected to office in 2017,” Shade told WAMC. “I saw representation in people like me running for office, and I thought, 'I can do this.' ”

Danica Roem, a male who identifies as a woman, is a Virginia state senator first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2024. Andrea Jenkins, a male who identifies as a woman, served on the Minneapolis City Council from 2017 until early January 2026.

Shade said there are relatively few openly transgender elected officials nationwide and argued that transgender representation in government is necessary to counter legislation opposed by transgender advocacy groups.

“There’s only six openly trans people elected to office in the state of Massachusetts,” Shade said. “There’s less than 100 in the entire country.”

It's not clear which Massachusetts public officials Shade was referring to, but possibilities include Holly Ryan, a transgender-identifying member of the Newton City Council elected in 2019 who lost a re-election bid in November 2023; and Thu Nguyen, a non-binary-identifying member of the Worcester City Council elected in November 2021 who did not run for re-election in 2025.

In August 2025, Governor Maura Healey appointed Giselle Byrd, a male who identifies as a female, to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, as New Boston Post reported last fall.

In the radio interview published Friday, January 2, Shade criticized the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers for policies concerning gender identity.

“Right now, we live at a time when the federal government doesn't believe that I'm a human being, or doesn’t think that I, or people like me, deserve to be treated with equality," Shade said. "And that's really difficult. It makes things, unfortunately, unstable, and it instills a lot of fear in people.”

Additionally, Shade argued that identifying as transgender "shouldn't be political."

“The average person cares about their utility bills, the average person cares about gas and grocery prices, the average person cares about having a stable job and having health insurance," Shade said. "So, if we focus on issues that the average voter actually cares about and stop making it about identity politics — I mean, the fact that trans people exist shouldn't be political. We exist, we've always existed, we always will. Me being elected has nothing to do with me being trans because I'm a qualified individual with experience.”

Looking ahead, Shade said the council faces budget challenges over the next several years, particularly as federal funding changes. Shade said fiscal planning will be a major focus during the upcoming term as council president.

Shade also said updating the city’s ordinances will be a priority, noting that many local laws have not been revised since the 1970s.

Shade became a Democrat in 2022 after leaving the Libertarian Party. Shade left the Libertarian Party due to the rising influence of the paleolibertarian Mises Caucus in party. Notable paleolibertarians include former U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Argentinian President Javier Milei.

North Adams is a small Massachusetts city in the northwest part of Berkshire County. The city of about 12,500 people shares a border with Vermont and is less than 15 miles from upstate New York.

The North Adams City Council is scheduled to hold its first meeting of 2026 on Tuesday, January 13.

Shade could not be reached for comment on Thursday.