NEWMARKET — Gerri Cannon and Lisa Bunker are slated to make history next month when they are seated as the first two openly transgender women to serve in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

They insist, however, that being transgender is not the whole of their identities.

"I don't identify myself as a trans person going to Concord, but I am a trans person in Concord," Bunker said during a sit-down interview with Seacoast Media Group alongside Cannon. "It is important to represent. One way I think we can do that (is) to look at legislation from a trans person's point of view, or an LGBT person's point of view, and ask if there's something people are missing here because they just don't know."

Cannon said she also is focused on more than just issues facing the transgender community.

"When they're there, I'll fight for them," Cannon said. "I am putting one piece of legislation forward (making it legal for transgender people to change their sex on their birth certificates) to help fight for the community. However, that's not why I'm there."

Cannon will represent Strafford County District 18 from Somersworth and Bunker will represent Rockingham County District 18 from Exeter. The pair will account for half of the total number of openly transgender people to serve in state legislatures in the United States – Danica Roem was the first when she won election to Virginia’s House of Delegates in 2017, and Colorado's Brianna Titone was elected in 2018, though Titone will take office two days after Cannon and Bunker when the Colorado General Assembly convenes Jan. 4.

In 2012, Stacie Laughton became the first openly transgender legislator elected in New Hampshire. She never took her seat, however, because news surfaced before her swearing in that she was a felon – she pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of fraudulent use of a credit card.

Upset about the results of the 2016 election, Bunker was motivated to run for office, something she'd never done before. Roem's election a year later was the push Bunker needed to make it official.

"That news electrified me," Bunker said. "I stayed up all night reading about her and her candidacy."

What impressed Bunker most about Roem was the focused manner in which she sought office.

"She ran a principled campaign on her qualifications and the issues," Bunker said. "She did not make her gender identity a part of her race. Her opponent tried to, but it backfired on him and she got elected. She campaigned hard, she wore out pairs of shoes canvassing and she got herself elected. I thought if Danica can do it, I can do it."

Cannon made her first foray into political office last year when she was elected to the Somersworth School Board, but she has long been involved in public discourse. She's testified several times about transgender issues before the Legislature, and she said seeing the political process up close got her motivated to give it a go herself.

"There's a lot more things than just the transgender community," Cannon said. "As I sat in other sessions in the House, I realized there were a lot of things I had an opinion about. There were a lot of health and human services issues."

Hearing stories of psychiatric patients who ended up in the state prisons for lack of a place to put them "disturbed" Cannon, she said.

"People weren't being treated with respect, including their families," she said. "We had bills on conversion therapy. When I listened to people fighting against it, it just bothered me. So, I said, you know, I can add a voice here. And a more intelligent voice."

Bunker said she will work on issues surrounding gun violence and closing the opportunity gap.

"The rest of us are one paycheck away from real troubles," Bunker said. "I think that's the story for many, many people in our society right now. A little thing like, you need new tires, or your cat gets sick, and all of a sudden, you're in a desperate situation. That's not right. That needs to be fixed."