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
McBride, other US lawmakers travel to Denmark
Trump’s demand for Greenland’s annexation overshadowed trip
Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride is among the 11 members of Congress who traveled to Denmark over the past weekend amid President Donald Trump’s continued calls for the U.S. to take control of Greenland.
McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, traveled to Copenhagen, the Danish capital, with U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), and Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif.). The lawmakers met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic MP Pipaluk Lynge, among others.
“I’m grateful to Sen. Coons for his leadership in bringing together a bipartisan, bicameral delegation to reaffirm our support in Congress for our NATO ally, Denmark,” said McBride in a press release that detailed the trip. “Delaware understands that our security and prosperity depend on strong partnerships rooted in mutual respect, sovereignty, and self-determination. At a time of growing global instability, this trip could not be more poignant.”
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark with a population of less than 60,000 people. Trump maintains the U.S. needs to control the mineral-rich island in the Arctic Ocean between Europe and North America because of national security.
The Associated Press notes thousands of people on Saturday in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, protested against Trump. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is among those who have criticized Trump over his suggestion the U.S. would impose tariffs against countries that do not support U.S. annexation of Greenland.
A poll that Sermitsiaq, a Greenlandic newspaper, and Berlingske, a Danish newspaper, commissioned last January indicates 85 percent do not want Greenland to become part of the U.S. The pro-independence Demokraatit party won parliamentary elections that took place on March 12, 2025.
“At this critical juncture for our countries, our message was clear as members of Congress: we value the U.S.-Denmark partnership, the NATO alliance, and the right of Greenlanders to self-determination,” said McBride on Sunday in a Facebook post that contained pictures of her and her fellow lawmakers meeting with their Danish and Greenlandic counterparts.
Congress
Van Hollen speaks at ‘ICE Out for Good’ protest in D.C.
ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is among those who spoke at an “ICE Out for Good” protest that took place outside U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s headquarters in D.C. on Tuesday.
The protest took place six days after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis.
Good left behind her wife and three children.
(Video by Michael K. Lavers)
Congress
Advocates say MTG bill threatens trans youth, families, and doctors
The “Protect Children’s Innocence” Act passed in the House
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has a long history of targeting the transgender community as part of her political agenda. Now, after announcing her resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives, attempting to take away trans rights may be the last thing she does in her official capacity.
The proposed legislation, dubbed “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” is among the most extreme anti-trans measures to move through Congress. It would put doctors in jail for up to 10 years if they provide gender-affirming care to minors — including prescribing hormone replacement therapy to adolescents or puberty blockers to younger children. The bill also aims to halt gender-affirming surgeries for minors, though those procedures are rare.
Greene herself described the bill on X, saying if passed, “it would make it a Class C felony to trans a child under 18.”
According to KFF, a nonpartisan source for health policy research, polling, and journalism, 27 states have enacted policies limiting youth access to gender-affirming care. Roughly half of all trans youth ages 13–17 live in a state with such restrictions, and 24 states impose professional or legal penalties on health care practitioners who provide that care.
Greene has repeatedly introduced the bill since 2021, the year she entered Congress, but it failed to advance. Now, in exchange for her support for the National Defense Authorization Act, the legislation reached the House floor for the first time.
According to the 19th, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first trans member of Congress, rebuked Republicans on the Capitol steps Wednesday for advancing anti-trans legislation while allowing Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire — a move expected to raise health care costs for millions of Americans.
“They would rather have us focus in and debate a misunderstood and vulnerable one percent of the population, instead of focusing in on the fact that they are raiding everyone’s health care,” McBride said. “They are obsessed with trans people … they are consumed with this.”
Polling suggests the public largely opposes criminalizing gender-affirming care.
A recent survey by the Human Rights Campaign and Global Strategy Group found that 73 percent of voters in U.S. House battleground districts oppose laws that would jail doctors or parents for providing transition-related care. Additionally, 77 percent oppose forcing trans people off medically recommended medication. Nearly seven in 10 Americans said politicians are not informed enough to make decisions about medical care for trans youth.
The bill passed the House and now heads to the U.S. Senate for further consideration.
According to reporting by Erin Reed of Erin In The Morning, three Democrats — U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Don Davis of North Carolina — crossed party lines to vote in favor of the felony ban, joining 213 Republicans. A total of 207 Democrats voted against the bill, while three lawmakers from both parties abstained.
Advocates and lawmakers warned the bill is dangerous and unprecedented during a multi-organizational press call Tuesday. Leaders from the Human Rights Campaign and the Trevor Project joined U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Dr. Kenneth Haller, and parents of trans youth to discuss the potential impact of restrictive policies like Greene’s — particularly in contrast to President Donald Trump’s leniency toward certain criminals, with more than 1,500 pardons issued this year.
“Our MAGA GOP government has pardoned drug traffickers. They’ve pardoned people who tried to overthrow the government on January 6, but now they want to put pediatricians and parents into a jail cell for caring for their kids,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “No one asked for Marjorie Taylor Greene or Dan Crenshaw or any politician to be in their doctor’s office, and they should mind their own business.”
Balint, co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, questioned why medical decisions are being made by lawmakers with no clinical expertise.
“Parents and doctors already have to worry about state laws banning care for their kids, and this bill would introduce the risk of federal criminal prosecution,” Balint said. “We’re talking about jail time. We’re talking about locking people up for basic medical care, care that is evidence-based, age-appropriate and life-saving.”
“These are decisions that should be made by doctors and parents and those kids that need this gender-affirming care, not certainly by Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Haller, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University School of Medicine, described the legislation as rooted in ideology rather than medicine.
“It is not science, it is just blind ideology,” Haller said.
“The doctor tells you that as parents, as well as the doctor themselves, could be convicted of a felony and be sentenced up to 10 years in prison just for pursuing a course of action that will give your child their only chance for a happy and healthy future,” he added. “It is not in the state’s best interests, and certainly not in the interests of us, the citizens of this country, to interfere with medical decisions that people make about their own bodies and their own lives.”
Haller’s sentiment is echoed by doctors across the country.
The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest organization that represents doctors across the country in various parts of medicine has a longstanding support for gender-affirming care.
“The AMA supports public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria and opposes the denial of health insurance based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” their website reads.
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, senior vice president of public engagement campaigns at the Trevor Project, agreed.
“In Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill [it] even goes so far as to criminalize and throw a parent in jail for this,” Heng-Lehtinen said. “Medical decisions should be between patients, families, and their doctors.”
Rachel Gonzalez, a parent of a transgender teen and LGBTQ advocate, said the bill would harm families trying to act in their children’s best interests.
“No politician should be in any doctor’s office or in our living room making private health care decisions — especially not Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Gonzalez said. “My daughter and no trans youth should ever be used as a political pawn.”
Other LGBTQ rights activists also condemned the legislation.
Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project, called the bill “an abominable attack on the transgender community.”
“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s last-ditch effort to bring her 3-times failed bill to a vote is an abominable attack on the transgender community and further cements a Congressional career defined by hate and bigotry,” they said. “We are counting down the days until she’s off Capitol Hill — but as the bill goes to the floor this week, our leaders must stand up one last time to her BS and protect the safety of queer kids and medical providers. Full stop.”
Hack added that “healthcare is a right, not a privilege” in the U.S., and this attack on trans healthcare is an attack on queer rights altogether.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene has no place in deciding what care is necessary,” Hack added. “This is another attempt to legislate trans and queer people out of existence while peddling an agenda rooted in pseudoscience and extremism.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, also denounced the legislation.
“This bill is the most extreme anti-transgender legislation to ever pass through the House of Representatives and a direct attack on the rights of parents to work with their children and their doctors to provide them with the medical care they need,” Takano said. “This bill is beyond cruel and its passage will forever be a stain on the institution of the United States Congress.”
The bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to pass.
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