Mel Manuel never considered themself to be particularly political. But after repeated attacks from Republicans against transgender people, the former Spanish teacher is running for a seat in the US Congress.

According to AFP, in the United States, transgender rights have become a hot-button election issue — and the latest battle in America’s culture wars.

Manuel, who identifies as transgender and nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, serves as the director of operations for the Louisiana Abortion Fund, which helps provide access to abortion services.

Despite an initial aversion to unveiling their private life, they are running for Congress as a Democrat in the southern state, one of the most traditionally conservative in the country.

Manuel, 40, even went so far as to post a campaign video on Instagram in which they gave themself a testosterone shot.

“I wanted to show something really raw and personal,” says Manuel, who has also said that one of their campaign goals is to “normalise queer and transness.”

Manuel, who is running against Republican heavyweight Steve Scalise, knows that their chances of winning are “super slim” but says their candidacy was prompted in part by more than 1,000 anti-LBGTQ bills proposed nationwide in recent years.

“When you have a target on your back, yeah, it really pisses people off, and they want to do something about it,” Manuel said.