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
51 lawmakers sign letter to Rubio about Andry Hernández Romero
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) spoke about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker
Forty nine members of Congress and two U.S. senators, all Democrats, signed a letter Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding information about Andry Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan national who was deported to El Salvador and imprisoned in the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT
“We are deeply concerned about the health and wellbeing of Mr. Hernández Romero, who left
Venezuela after experiencing discriminatory treatment because of his sexual orientation and
opposition to Venezuela’s authoritarian government,” the lawmakers wrote. They urged the State Department to facilitate his access to legal counsel and take steps to return him.
After passing a credible fear interview and while awaiting a court hearing in March, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly transported Hernández out of the U.S. without due process or providing evidence that he had committed any crime.
In the months since, pressure has been mounting. This past WorldPride weekend in Washington was kicked off with a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and a fundraiser, both supporting Hernández and attended by high profile figures including members of Congress, like U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was among the four members who wrote to Rubio about Hernández in April. On Friday, he spoke with the Washington Blade before he and his colleagues, many more of them this time, sent the second letter to Rubio.
“There’s a lot of obviously horrible things that are happening with the asylum process and visas and international students and just the whole of our value system as it relates to immigration,” he said, which “obviously, is under attack.”
“Andry’s case, I think, is very unique and different,” the congressman continued. “There is, right now, public support that is building. I think he has captured people’s attention. And it’s growing — this is a movement that is not slowing down. He’s going to be a focal point for Pride this year. I mean, I think people around the world are interested in the story.”
Garcia said he hopes the momentum will translate to progress on requests for proof of life, adding that he was optimistic after meeting with Hernández’s legal team earlier on Friday.
“I mean, the president, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio — any of these folks could could ask to see if just he’s alive,” the congressman said, referring to the secretary of Homeland Security, whom he grilled during a hearing last month. ICE is housed under the DHS.
“People need to remember, the most important part of this that people need to remember, this isn’t just an immigration issue,” Garcia noted. “This is a due process issue. This is an asylum case. We gave him this appointment. The United States government told him to come to his appointment, and then we sent him to another country, not his own, and locked him up with no due process. That’s the issue.”
Garcia said that so far neither he nor his colleagues nor Hernández’s legal team were able to get “any answers from the administration, which is why we’re continuing to advocate, which is why we’re continuing to reach out to Secretary Rubio.”
“A lot more Democrats are now engaged on this issue,” he said. U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, both from California, joined Monday’s letter. “The more that we can get folks to understand how critical this is, the better. The momentum matters here. And I think Pride does provide an opportunity to share his story.”
Asked what the next steps might be, Garcia said “we’re letting his legal team really take the lead on strategy,” noting that Hernández’s attorneys have “already engaged with the ACLU” and adding, “It’s very possible that the Supreme Court could take this on.”
In the meantime, the congressman said “part of our job is to make sure that that people don’t forget Andry and that there is awareness about him, and I think there’s a responsibility, particularly during WorldPride, and during Pride, all throughout the month — like, this is a story that people should know. People should know his name and and people should be aware of what’s going on.”
Congress
Wasserman Schultz: Allies must do more to support LGBTQ Jews
A Wider Bridge honored Fla. congresswoman at Capital Jewish Museum on Thursday
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday said allies need to do more to support LGBTQ Jewish people in the wake of Oct. 7.
“Since Oct. 7, what has been appalling to me is that LGBTQ+ Jewish organizations and efforts to march in parades, to be allies, to give voice to other causes have faced rejection,” said the Florida Democrat at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. after A Wider Bridge honored her at its Pride event.
Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish Democrat who represents Florida’s 25th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, added the “silence of our allies … has been disappointing.”
“It makes your heart feel hollow and it makes me feel alone and isolated, which is why making sure that we have spaces that we can organize in every possible way in every sector of our society as Jews is so incredibly important,” she said.
The Israeli government says Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when it launched a surprise attack on the country. The militants also kidnapped more than 200 people on that day.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed nearly 55,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who the Israel Defense Forces killed last October, are among those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
A Wider Bridge is a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism and other forms of hatred.”
Thursday’s event took place 15 days after a gunman killed two Israeli Embassy employees — Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim — as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Police say a man who injured more than a dozen people on June 1 in Boulder, Colo., when he threw Molotov cocktails into a group of demonstrators who were calling for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages was yelling “Free Palestine.” The Associated Press notes that authorities said the man who has been charged in connection with the attack spent more than a year planning it.
Congress
Sen. Schiff proposes resolution urging DOD not to rename U.S. Naval Ship Harvey Milk
Pentagon reportedly plans to change the name of ship named for gay rights icon
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a resolution urging the U.S. Department of Defense not to rename ships that bear the names of civil rights leaders like gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk.
The move comes just after reports on Tuesday that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan to rename the U.S. Naval Ship Harvey Milk, with an announcement deliberately planned for Pride month on June 14.
The vessel, a replenishment oiler, is part of the John Lewis class fleet. The Pentagon is also considering renaming other ships in the fleet including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman, according to CBS News.
“By naming these ships,” Schiff wrote in his resolution, “the United States Navy has appropriately celebrated notable civil rights leaders and their legacy in promoting a more equal and just United States.”
Milk was assassinated in 1978 while serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Prior to his election to the Senate last year, Schiff represented California districts in the U.S. House since 2001.
Part one of his resolution “strongly supports the naming of John Lewis-class fleet replacement oilers after the aforementioned civil rights leaders as a fitting tribute to honor their contributions to the advancement of civil rights,” while part two “strongly encourages the Department of Defense not to take any action to change the names.”
South African activists demand action to stop anti-LGBTQ violence
Gay pharmacist’s murder sparks outrage in Chile
D.C. police investigating threat of shooting at WorldPride festival
Capitalism, patriarchy, and neocolonialism are repackaging the scramble for Africa
WorldPride wraps up after epic weekend of events
Japan should end abusive detention conditions for transgender people
I interviewed Biden in late 2024 and he was attentive, engaged
Delaware Gov. Meyer announces LGBTQ commission
PHOTOS: Capital Pride Honors
