Politics
More than 35 trans, genderqueer candidates running across U.S.
‘I’ve always said that trans people make the best natural politicians’
When Jennifer Williams was collecting signatures for her first political campaign in 2022, people told her, a transgender woman, “I think you would do an awesome job, but you got no chance to win.”
Their hesitancy was not unfounded. Williams won her seat on Trenton, N.J.’s City Council by a single vote.
This round she is running unopposed with broad community support. She attributes this to the fact that she got her job done. “Things have gone so well,” she says, “I think I delivered on everything I wanted to do.”
Williams is not the only trans candidate who has already secured a place in political office for the upcoming cycle. Kim Coco Iwamoto made history in Hawaii as the first person in U.S. history to defeat an incumbent House speaker in a Democratic primary—in addition to being the first out transgender elected official in Hawaii’s history. (Since there is no other challenger, Iwamoto is the representative-elect).
Vered Meltzer, the first openly transgender individual to hold elected office in Wisconsin, elected originally in 2014, continues his tenure as a City Council Member in the City of Appleton, after winning in April. Helen Grant, a genderqueer/non-binary candidate in Oklahoma, won their race for Norman City Council in February.
Sarah McBride wins Delaware’s at-large congressional district, becoming the nation’s first out trans congressional lawmaker.
Across the nation, 35 other transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer candidates are running for office in their local communities. The Blade will be tracking all races live as results come in, in addition to providing insight from interviews conducted with many of the candidates in the weeks leading up to election day.
“Transgender representation in public office is important because unfortunately the GOP has put a target on our backs … Since they’ve decided to use us as a scapegoat for our nation’s problems it’s important that we be able to advocate for ourselves in our own voice while standing up for our own humanity and rights.” – Mel Manuel, candidate for U.S. House of Representatives.
Identity information—transgender man, transgender woman, non-binary, and genderqueer—comes from the LGBTQ Victory Fund and FUTR (Families United for Trans Rights).
Candidates emphasize that their identities do not always fit within simple labels. Minita Sanghvi, a candidate for the New York Senate, says, “I present as a butch lesbian and I often don’t feel like I am cisgender.” She explains that she sees gender as a continuum. “I see myself as gender diverse or genderqueer because I am not transgender either.”
When asked about top issues, the candidates repeatedly cited topics other than anti-LGBTQ bills. The focus of the campaigns varies race to race depending on local needs, such as poverty alleviation, improving emergency services, reproductive freedom, gun safety, and infrastructure.
Many did cite their unique perspective as a trans person making them a better politician. It is not simply about the importance of having diverse voices in the legislature; rather it is about resiliency and creativity.
“I’ve always said that trans people make the best natural politicians,” says Alfred Twu, a candidate running for the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. “We’re already used to getting personal attacks, nothing really phases us, and we’re even used to explaining our life story to random people.”
“We have a lot to contribute because we have to follow a journey of self-discovery,” says Williams. “Along the way, we really look at how people are affected by the government, negatively and positively, what the role of government should be, and how precious our liberties and freedoms are.”
It doesn’t hurt that being an openly trans public servant leads to greater acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ community.
“I am very proud to have the opportunity to give people a visual example as to what a transgender person actually looks like, and what we do day in and day out when we have responsibility serving the people that elected us,” says Lisa Middleton, a trans woman running a competitive race for the California State Senate in a slightly red-leaning district.
“The more that we show that we can lead and we can deliver as representatives of our fellow citizens, I think that’s going to change hearts and minds faster than anything else,” says Williams.
The Candidates
Abigail Salisbury
Non-binary/Genderqueer candidate running for Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Uncontested)
Aime Wichtendahl
Trans woman running for Iowa House of Representatives
Race Status: Won, becoming Iowa’s first transgender lawmaker
“Berkley is about a quarter Asian… But we don’t have anybody on the tenant board from an Asian American background. This becomes an issue because we have so many people who are first-time tenants and a lot of people are immigrants. They just got to this country, and they often don’t know what their rights are. Berkeley has been a bit lagging compared to some of our neighboring cities in providing information in different languages.” – Alfred Twu
Alfred Twu
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board in California
Race Status: Not called, but looks like Twu snagged the last of four seats available on the board.
Alicia “Liish” Kozlowski
Non-Binary candidate running for Minnesota House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Amber Fellows
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Ypsilanti City Council in Michigan
Race Status: Won
Ambureen Rana
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Maine House of Representatives
Race Status: Won
Ashley Brundage
Trans woman running for Florida House of Representatives
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Karen Gonzalez Pittman (R). In a social media post following the results, Brundage wrote “Together, we’ve laid a foundation, and I look forward to seeing it grow.”
Brian Cina
Non-binary/Genderqueer candidate running for Vermont House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Uncontested)
Brianna Titone
Trans woman running for Colorado House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Brion Curran
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Minnesota House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
DeShanna Neal
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Delaware House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Eleanor Moreno
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Grand Rapids School Board in Michigan
Race Status: Won
Emma Curtis
Trans woman running for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in Kentucky
Race Status: Won. Curtis writes on social media: “It’s the greatest honor of my life that you have placed your faith in me to serve as your next Councilmember.” She continued in a statement to local radio: “I think that is significant because there are a lot of young trans kids in Lexington and a lot of young trans kids in Kentucky and quite frankly a lot of young trans kids in the United States who need to see people like them getting a seat at the table.”
Evelyn Rios Stafford
Trans woman running for Washington County Justice of the Peace in Arkansas
Race Status: Won
Jo Miller
Transgender Non-Binary candidate running for Woodbury City Council New Jersey
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Joshua Query
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for New Hampshire House of Representatives
Race Status: Lost
Leigh Finke
Trans woman running for Minnesota House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Leslie Blackburn
Genderqueer candidate running for Lodi Township Trustee in Michigan
Race Status: Won
“I am a strong believer in a woman’s right to choose. My opponent is absolutely opposed to that. It’s a fundamental issue for millions of women. It also the politicization of healthcare, and as a transgender woman, I have been dealing with politicized healthcare all my adult life.” –Lisa Middleton
Lisa Middleton
Trans woman running for California State Senate
Race Status: Lost, Middleton wrote, “We have lost a race. We remain steadfast in our values. I will continue to work with all who are committed to freedom, fairness and opportunity for all.”
Lorena Austin
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Arizona House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Mari Cordes
Genderqueer candidate running for Vermont House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Marielle De Leon
Trans woman running for San Juan Municipal Legislature in Puerto Rico
Race Status: Unknown
Mel Manuel
Transgender Non-Binary candidate running for US House of Representatives in Louisiana
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Steve Scalise (R). In response, Manuel told The Blade “We’re going to unseat Jeff Landry in 2027 but we need to start working now. Remember, Louisiana is not a red state. We have more registered Democrats than Republicans. So don’t give up hope. If we work together we can absolutely take our state back. We’re not going back, Louisiana. Not now. Not ever.”
“I moved to the U.S. in 2001 because I realized I was gay. India, where I was growing up, was not a very safe place to be for a gay kid in the 1990s or the 80s … I’m really grateful for everything that America has given me. When I was growing up, I never imagined that I would have a life where I get married, have a child, be on his birth certificate, be able to raise a family, go to work in a place where I was accepted for who I was, that I didn’t have to hide who I was … I got my chance at the American dream. I want everyone else to get their chance at the American dream.” – Minita Sanghvi
Minita Sanghvi
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for New York State Senate
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Jim Tedisco (R).
Nathan Bruemmer
Trans man running for Florida House of Representatives
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Linda Chaney (R).
Paul Bixler
Trans woman running for Liberty Elementary School District #25, Governing Board in Arizona
Race Status: Unknown
Precious Brady-Davis
Trans woman running for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners
Race Status: Won
Remy Drabkin
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Mayor of McMinnville, Oregon
Race Status: Lost. Drabkin wrote “The work is not over. I will be focused over the next 2 months, prioritizing and completing specific projects. And I’ll stay dedicated to others, even when my role shifts.”
“It is vital that transgender and gender-diverse people have adequate representation at all levels of government because we are members of our communities, and we need representation just like everyone else. The issues that are important to us are often the very same issues that are important to everyone, but they sometimes affect us in unique or disproportionate ways.” – Serenity Johnson
Serenity Johnson
Trans woman running for Radcliff City Council in Kentucky
Race Status: Lost
Terra Lawson-Remer
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for San Diego County Board of Supervisors in California
Race Status: Lawson-Remer (Incumbent) is “poised to win” but the race has not been called.
“I’m running at the statehouse level after serving on my city council, because Indiana deserves to have a General Assembly that works to lift folks up, and not beat them down; that acts to expand folks’ rights, and not diminish them; and that looks more like all the people it serves.” –
Veronica Pejril
Veronica Pejril
Trans woman running for Indiana State Senate
Race Status: Lost to Brett Clark (R).
Vivian Smotherman
Trans woman running for Colorado State Senate
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Cleave Simpson (R), who Smotherman thanked for “keeping this campaign focused on the people and issues rather than hate and fear.” In a statement Smotherman also noted: “America was built on hard work, and I’m confident we did everything we could, with the resources we had, to win this race. Even though we have come up short, I’m proud of what we have achieved.”
Xavier Johnson
Genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commission in California
Race Status: Not called, but leading alongside three others.
Zooey Zephyr
Trans woman running for Montana House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Congress
MTG resigns after years of anti-LGBTQ attacks amid Trump feud
Greene’s abrupt departure adds fresh uncertainty to an already fractured Republican Party.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Friday that she is resigning from Congress.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Georgia 14th Congressional District representative announced her sudden decision to resign from office.
The nearly 11-minute-long video shows Rep. Greene stating she will step down from her role representing one of Georgia’s most Republican districts on Jan. 5, 2026. She cited multiple reasons for this decision, most notably her very public separation from Trump.
In recent weeks, Greene — long one of the loudest and most supportive MAGA members of Congress — has butted heads with the president on a slew of topics. Most recently, she supported pushing the DOJ to release the Epstein Files, becoming one of only four Republicans to sign a discharge petition, against Trump’s wishes.
She also publicly criticized her own party during the government shutdown. Rep. Greene had oddly been supportive of Democratic initiatives to protect healthcare tax credits and subsidies that were largely cut out of national healthcare policy as a result of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July.
“What I am upset over is my party has no solution,” Greene said in October.
Trump recently said he would endorse a challenger against the congresswoman if she ran for reelection next year, and last week went as far as to declare, “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Green is a disgrace to our GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY!” on his Truth Social platform.
Trump told ABC News on Friday night that Greene’s resignation is “great news for the country,” and added that he has no plans to speak with Greene but wishes her well.
Despite her recent split with the head of the Republican Party, Rep. Greene has consistently taken a staunch stance against legislation supporting the LGBTQ community — notably a hardline “no” on any issue involving transgender people or their right to gender-affirming care.
Rep. Greene has long been at odds with the LGBTQ community. Within her first month in office, she criticized Democrats’ attempts to pass the Equality Act, legislation that would bar anti-LGBTQ employment discrimination. She went as far as to suggest an apocalypse-like scenario if Congress passed such a measure.
“God created us male and female,” she said on the House floor. “In his image, he created us. The Equality Act that we are to vote on this week destroys God’s creation. It also completely annihilates women’s rights and religious freedoms. It can be handled completely differently to stop discrimination without destroying women’s rights, little girls’ rights in sports, and religious freedom, violating everything we hold dear in God’s creation.”
Greene, who serves one of the nation’s most deeply red districts in northwest Georgia, attempted to pass legislation dubbed the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would have criminalized gender-affirming care for minors and restricted federal funding and education related to gender-affirming care in 2023. The bill was considered dead in January 2025 after being referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Her push came despite multiple professional medical organizations, including the nation’s largest and most influential — the American Medical Association — stating that withholding gender-affirming care would do more harm than any such care would.
She has called drag performers “child predators” and described the Democratic Party as “the party of killing babies, grooming and transitioning children, and pro-pedophile politics.”
Greene has also publicly attacked Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride, the nation’s first and only transgender member of Congress. She has repeatedly misgendered and attacked McBride, saying, “He’s a man. He’s a biological male,” adding, “he’s got plenty of places he can go” when asked about bathrooms and locker rooms McBride should use. Greene has also been vocal about her support for a bathroom-usage bill targeting McBride and transgender Americans as a whole.
She has repeatedly cited false claims that transgender people are more violent than their cisgender counterparts, including falsely stating that the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooter in Texas was transgender.
The former MAGA first lady also called for an end to Pride month celebrations. She criticized the fact that the LGBTQ community gets “an entire” month while veterans get “only one day each year” in an X post, despite November being designated as National Veterans and Military Families Month.
Under Georgia law, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) must hold a special election within 40 days of the seat becoming vacant.
The Washington Blade reached out to both the White House and Greene’s office for comment, but has not heard back.
PFLAG honored U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) with the “2025 PFLAG National Champion of Justice” award during their annual “Love Takes Justice” event in Washington.
Waters has represented California’s 43rd Congressional District — including much of Los Angeles — since 1991 and has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights since her swearing-in.
Her track record includes opposing the Defense of Marriage Act, which would have made marriage only between a man and a woman; co-sponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act, ultimately requiring all U.S. states to recognize same-sex marriages performed by other states; and is a long time supporter of the Equality Act, which would codify comprehensive protections for LGBTQ Americans.
In addition to her work on marriage equality, she also created the Minority AIDS Initiative to help address the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on minority communities, particularly communities of color.
The award reception took place Tuesday at the headquarters of the American Federation of Teachers, where Waters was presented with the award by former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the openly gay member of Congress. Frank praised Waters for her unwavering support for the LGBTQ community and her lifelong commitment to advancing equality for all.
“One of the most encouraging developments in the fight for human rights is the failure of those who traffic in any form of bigotry, including bigotry to divide the Black and LGBTQ+ communities,” said Frank, who came out in 1987 while in office. “No one deserves more recognition for strengthening our unity than Maxine Waters.”
During the reception, Waters spoke about her extensive history of LGBTQ advocacy within the halls of Congress, emphasizing that her idea of government centers around uplifting its most vulnerable and threatened communities.
“From the very beginning of my public life I’ve believed that the government must protect those that are vulnerable, including LGBTQ+ people, who have been pushed to the margins, criminalized and told that their lives and their love do not matter,” Waters said. “Discrimination has no place in our laws.”
She continued, adding that the discrimination LGBTQ people have dealt with — and continue to deal with — is unconstitutional and wrong.
“I am proud to stand with LGBTQ+ families against efforts to write discrimination into our constitution, against attempts to deny people jobs, housing, healthcare and basic dignity because of who they are or who they love,” she said.
Waters joins a slew of other LGBTQ advocates who have received this award, beginning with the late-Georgia Congressman John Lewis in 2018. Past honorees include Oakland (Calif.) Mayor Barbara Lee, who was then a member of Congress, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Frank, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who was then a member of Congress, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
PFLAG CEO Brian Bond commented on the continued fight for LGBTQ rights in the U.S. as anti-transgender rhetoric and policies coming from the Trump-Vance White House grow each week.
“LGBTQ+ people and their families — and all of you here — know too well the reality of the political climate, the attitudes of the public, and the sheer lack of respect that LGBTQ+ people are experiencing in the world today. There’s no end to the hostile barrage of harmful laws, city ordinances, and regulations, especially against our trans loved ones,” Bond said. “This particular moment in history calls us to increase and fortify our work, advocating at every level of government.”
He ended with some hope — reminding the LGBTQ community they have been on the receiving end of discrimination and unjust treatment before, but have risen above and changed the laws — saying we can do it again.
“PFLAG members and supporters are uniquely suited for this moment, because we are fighting for and alongside our LGBTQ+ loved ones, we know that our love is louder … and love and liberty are inseparable,” said Bond.
Congress
Global Respect Act reintroduced in US House
Measure would sanction foreign officials responsible for anti-LGBTQ human rights abuses
U.S. Reps. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) on Thursday reintroduced a bill that would sanction foreign officials who carry out anti-LGBTQ human rights abuses.
A press release notes the Global Respect Act would direct “the U.S. government to identify and sanction foreign persons who are responsible for torture, arbitrary detention, physical attacks, murder, and other flagrant abuses against LGBTQI+ individuals.” The measure would also require “annual human rights reporting from the State Department and strengthens coordination with foreign governments, civil society, and the private sector to prevent anti-LGBTQI+ persecution.”
“Freedom and dignity should never depend on your zip code or who holds power in your country,” said McBride.
The Delaware Democrat who is the first openly transgender person elected to Congress notes consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in more than 60 countries, while “far too many (countries) look away from the violence that follows.”
“The Global Respect Act reaffirms a simple truth: no one should be targeted for who they are or whom they love,” said McBride. “This bill strengthens America’s voice on human rights.”
“No person should ever face imprisonment, violence, or discrimination on the basis of who they are,” added Fitzpatrick. “The Global Respect Act imposes real and necessary sanctions on those who carry out these abuses and strengthens America’s resolve to uphold basic human rights worldwide.”
The Global Respect Act has 119 co-sponsors. McBride and Fitzpatrick reintroduced it in the U.S. House of Representatives on the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“As we mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, we reaffirm that no one, no matter where they live in the world, should be persecuted or subjected to violence simply because of who they are or whom they love,” said Mark Bromley, co-chair of the Council for Global Equality. “The Global Respect Act seeks to hold the world’s worst perpetrators of violence against LGBTQI+ people accountable by leveraging our sanctions regimes to uphold the human rights of all people.”
Outright International, Amnesty International USA, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, ORAM (Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration), and the Human Rights Campaign are among the other groups that have endorsed the bill.
U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in June introduced the Global Equality Act in the U.S. Senate. Gay California Congressman Robert Garcia and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) on Monday introduced the International Human Defense Act that would require the State Department to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.
The promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights was a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s overall foreign policy.
The global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement since the Trump-Vance administration froze nearly all U.S. foreign aid has lost more than an estimated $50 million in funding.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funded dozens of advocacy groups around the world, officially shut down on July 1. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this year said the State Department would administer the remaining 17 percent of USAID contracts that had not been cancelled.
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