As some Democrats debate whether defending transgender people carries a political cost, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is pointing to her record. She has won repeatedly while making LGBTQ+ protections part of her agenda.

“Michigan is a very swing state, and I’ve never wavered on these issues, and politically, I’ve been successful,” Whitmer told The Advocate in an exclusive interview Saturday, hours before she was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in Washington, D.C.