GRAND PRAIRIE — When Johnny Boucher announced that he was running for a seat on the Grand Prairie school board, one of the first questions he got wasn't about his qualifications, his background or his educational beliefs.

Instead, he heard: "If you were to become a trustee, what bathroom would you use?"

Boucher, 29, wants to talk about his credentials as an award-winning teacher at a Montessori school in Dallas, about his passion for early childhood education and for innovative, specialized schools like the ones in Grand Prairie.

But as a transgender male, he knows that part of his life will be a big part of the conversation.

"I'm not going to campaign on being transgender," he said. "But I won't hide it."

A possible trailblazer?

Boucher is running for the Place 4, single-member-district seat formerly held by J.D. Stewart. The longtime Grand Prairie school board member resigned late last year for health reasons, and Aaron King was appointed to serve the remainder of Stewart's term.

King is running against Boucher, who gives credit to Betsy DeVos, U.S. secretary of education under the new administration of President Donald Trump, for getting him to seek office.

"After she was approved, I tried to find something about her qualifications for that position," Boucher said. "I thought, 'If she can find herself at the top of this national leadership position without any experience in public schools or public school policy, then what can I do to make my voice be heard more clearly?'"

Boucher said he was also inspired by an article in Ebony magazine on how to thrive in the era of Trump.

"It was spelled out in big capital letters: RUN FOR OFFICE," he said.

King and Boucher will face off in the May 6 general election. If Boucher wins, he would be the first candidate to campaign for and win an election in Texas as openly transgender — possibly.

Johnny Boucher discusses his candidacy for the Grand Prairie school board as his wife, Ashley, looks on. (Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer)

"Due to the enormous stigma around being trans, we always have to say that something like this may be the first as far as we know," said Nell Gaither, president of Dallas-based Trans Pride Initiative, which provides support and advocacy for transgender issues. "Many trans persons are non-disclosing, meaning they don't disclose their trans status at all."

In the tiny Collin County town of New Hope, Jess Herbst was elected in 2003 as an alderman. Herbst was appointed mayor of the town last May when the previous mayor died of a heart attack. In January, she disclosed that she is transgender.

Boucher and Herbst are not alone.

Phyllis Frye is an associate municipal judge in Houston, appointed in 2010 by former mayor Annise Parker. Jenifer Rene Pool, another Houstonian, is the first known transgender candidate to win a primary after she won the Democratic nod for Precinct 3 on the Harris County Commissioners Court, but she lost in the general election.

Danielle Pellett, a Richardson resident, has already filed in the Democratic primary for U.S. House District 32, a seat held by Republican Pete Sessions that will be on the ballot in the 2018 midterm elections.

Pellet doesn't believe transgender candidates should seek office just because they are transgender.

"They need to understand the importance of knowing the people and the issues in the area; to accept that some people will never accept our vote for them simply because they are transgender, and to not fight them on that," she said in a written statement.

Jess Herbst is the mayor of New Hope in Collin County. She met Johnny Boucher in Austin while waiting to testify against the state's so-called bathroom bill. (Jae S. Lee / The Dallas Morning News)

Boucher and Herbst met each other in Austin last week, part of a crowd of hundreds that gathered at the State Capitol to voice their opposition to Senate Bill 6.

If it passes, the controversial bill would bar transgender residents from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity in public schools, universities and government buildings.

"He seemed very bright, very enthusiastic," Herbst said of Boucher. "We talked about my position as an elected official. He talked about campaign finance and said, 'I can get a lot of money from LBGT groups, but I'm not running on those issues, I'm running on educational issues.'"

Herbst, 58, was so taken by Boucher that she gave him $40 on the spot and told him "not to spend it all at the ice cream shop."

Similar positions

King, 31, a lifelong resident of Grand Prairie who attended district schools through graduation, met Boucher shortly after both filed for election.

"He reached out to me and we had a sit-down meeting that was very productive," said King, a funeral director and park superintendent of Oak Grove Memorial Gardens. "We are both two young guys with a lot of the same goals."

King, who said he had considered running for office before but not this early in his life, said he wasn't going to run a campaign on Boucher's transgender status.

"I don't think that's going to have any affect at all," he said. "We both have a desire to serve and raise our kids up in good schools, and we're going to focus on the great things this district is doing and the great things we are going to do."

Boucher, a teacher at Eduardo Mata Elementary, a Montessori campus in Dallas ISD, said he and King both share a passion for early childhood education and for enhancing programs for students with disabilities.

"We are running against each other, yes, but he's been friendly and welcoming to me," Boucher said. "No matter who wins, we're still from the same neighborhood and it's going to have a good representative."

'Absurdly qualified'

Boucher grew up in Oak Cliff, attended Harry Stone Montessori Academy in Dallas and the Townview Magnet Center for Science and Engineering. He earned a master's degree from SMU and will graduate in May. He has also been accepted into the online doctoral program for Educational Leadership and Policy at Johns Hopkins University.

In addition, he was named a Teacher of the Year for 2014-15 by the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce and has been a Dallas ISD Distinguished Teacher since 2014.

Johnny Boucher voiced his concerns to the Fort Worth ISD Board of Education during a meeting discussing the district's bathroom policies last year. (File Photo/Tom Fox)

"Johnny is absurdly qualified to sit on an unpaid, volunteer position in Grand Prairie," said Ashley Boucher, his wife of three years and a transgender female. "There was always the idea of doing something in administration. I don't know that it had to be political in nature, but there was always a discussion."

Boucher said he has been asked several times to serve on task forces, boards and commissions in Dallas. But now he wants to serve closer to home.

"My mom passed away a while ago, but I find myself still talking to her every day, particularly when I'm driving home from work," he said. "She always said, 'Start in your own backyard because there are trees you need to plant there first.'

"So that's what I want to do: Plant my own tree."