Politics
Meet five trailblazing LGBTQ candidates of 2022
These queer politicians are running to make a difference
Each year, more LGBTQ candidates run and are elected to serve in local, state, and federal offices. And 2022 is shaping up to be no different.
As of the 2021 election cycle, there are more than 1,000 out LGBTQ representatives in the United States. Several LGBTQ trailblazers are running for office in 2022; here are five candidates to keep your eye on this year.
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara
Current position: Buncombe County Commissioner
Position sought: U.S. House of Representatives, District 14
After serving as Buncombe county commissioner in North Carolina, Jasmine Beach-Ferrera is making a change and running for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Beach-Ferrara, who is a lesbian, was elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020. She is also an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and the founding executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.
She said it’s been a “tremendous honor” to serve as a county commissioner. During her tenure, Beach-Ferrara has been pushing for policy focused on early childhood education and opioid epidemic response, as well as pandemic relief projects.
“Local government is such a powerful part of how government happens in our country. It’s so immediate in terms of impacting people’s lives so quickly,” she said. “Personally, I really just love having the opportunity to serve in that way and it’s been a big motivator for me in terms of why I’m now seeking to serve on the federal level.”
If elected, Beach-Ferrara wants to focus on building bridges and listening to what her constituents need, which are needed priorities that have been lost under toxic leadership in the state, she said.
While on the campaign trail, Beach-Ferrara said being out has been a big strength for her.
“The power of people running and being out is that the moment you come out, you’re communicating a few things … honesty and authenticity, and letting people know that you are showing up exactly as you are,” she said.
Robert Garcia
Current position: Mayor of Long Beach, Calif.
Position sought: U.S. House of Representatives, CA-42
Mayor Robert Garcia is running for the U.S. House of Representatives.
As the mayor of Long Beach, Calif., Garcia forged a national model for testing and the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. Long Beach was the first municipality to vaccinate educators in California. He is the first mayor of Long Beach to appoint a majority of women to board and commissions, as well.
Garcia, who is gay, immigrated to the United States from Peru when he was five years old. Becoming a citizen was “the best thing that ever happened” to him, he said. Now, he is running for Congress to help give people the same opportunities given to him.
“Patriotism is about helping people. It’s about taking care of your neighbor. It’s about standing up for the values that made this country and that includes supporting kids like me who are immigrants,” Garcia said.
If elected, Garcia wants to focus on building infrastructure as he has as mayor, expand LGBTQ rights and provide pathways to citizenship for folks that are undocumented.
“I understand the immigration system because I went through it,” Garcia said. “I know how people struggle and how folks navigate a complex and burdensome system.”
Michele Rayner-Goolsby
Current position: Florida House of Representatives, District 70
Position sought: U.S. House of Representatives, FL-13
Former Civil Rights Attorney Michele Rayner-Goolsby wants to bring a fresh perspective to Congress.
Currently serving as the first out queer Black representative in the Florida Legislature, her priority is advocating for her constituents.
“People are hungry for a different type of leadership — that is rooted in community, that is rooted in transparency, that is rooted in accountability,” she said.
Rayner-Goolsby’s experience as a Black queer woman is her “best strength,” she said.
“I’ve had to fight and earn everything that I have ever had in my life,” she said. That shapes the way I think about policy and legislation.”
As a statehouse representative, Rayner-Goolsby has spearheaded COVID-19 vaccine pop-up distribution sites and passed legislation like an urban agriculture bill to bring community gardens to food deserts and a workforce development bill that establishes an apprenticeship approach to becoming a certified nursing assistant.
If elected, Rayner-Goolsby wants to build legislation that outlasts her tenure, she said. She wants to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation, environmental justice protections and address the affordable housing crisis.
“We have got to come up with creative solutions,” she said. “And we’ve got to have the political will to figure it out. It’s not the lack of resources, it’s the lack of political will.”
Brianna Titone
Current position: Colorado House of Representatives, District 27
Position sought: Colorado House of Representatives, District 27
Brianna Titone, an incumbent in the Colorado Legislature, is seeking reelection after serving District 27 for two terms.
Titone is the first transgender person to be elected to the Colorado Statehouse.
After seeing three trans people win elections in 2017, Titone was inspired to run for the statehouse seat. Her background as a geologist and personal identity combined to give her a unique and powerful skillset.
“As a scientist, I’m able to understand and look at the data,” Titone said. “And as a trans person, I know how to be empathetic to people’s issues and problems.”
One of her biggest accomplishments was bringing back and passing the bill banning the “Gay and Trans Panic Defense” after the legislation was nearly killed.
“I pleaded with the Senate and the House leadership to get that bill back on the schedule. And we were able to do it,” she said. “I wasn’t going to let that issue have to wait another year to be passed.”
Titone has been on the frontlines in pushing against efforts to remove trans kids from sports, as well.
“I’m a big advocate for communities coming together,” Titone said. “And sports is a great way for people to come together and rally around the people in their community. When we leave kids out or we force kids out of that kind of activity, we’re really undermining community.”
Todd Delmay
Current position: Entrepreneur
Position sought: Florida State House of Representatives, District 100
Todd Delmay, a father, husband, and entrepreneur, has been on the frontlines of LGBTQ advocacy for years.
Delmay, who is gay, adopted his son with his partner in 2010 when it was still illegal in Florida. Delmay’s husband adopted their son Blake as a single parent, and Delmay was told to bring friends and “blend in the background” to not arouse suspicion. Later that year the law was overturned and Delmay adopted Blake as a second parent, but the process was humiliating and upsetting, he said.
In 2014, Delmay and his partner were one of the couples that sued for the right to marry in Florida. In 2015, Delmay and his husband were one of the first gay couples to marry in the state.
“That was a pretty empowering moment,” Delmay said.
Delmay is excited to bring his unique perspective as a gay parent to the statehouse, he said. Adoption rights, for example, is an issue Delmay can speak to personally.
“When LGBTQ people are in the room, it changes the conversation,” Delmay said.
Delmay is the CEO of Delmay Corporation, an event technology and software company. If elected, Delmay hopes to support small businesses, pass legislation concerning the environment and fight for civil rights.
“It’s important that the legislature always reflect the people because there are so many different perspectives,” Delmay said. “And if we have any hopes of turning the state blue, we need to make sure that we are speaking to everyone and that the legislature represents everyone.”
Congress
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.
But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.
The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.
To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”
Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.
Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.
Congress
Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer
Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died on Wednesday, according to a statement from his family.
The 75-year-old lawmaker, who served in Congress since 2009, announced last month that he will not seek reelection and would step down from his role as the top Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Oversight Committee because his esophageal cancer had returned.
“We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion,” his family said in their statement. “His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations.”
“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.
Connolly was memorialized in statements from colleagues and friends including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), former President Joe Biden, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Several highlighted Connolly’s fierce advocacy on behalf of federal workers, who are well represented in his northern Virginia congressional district.
The congressman also supported LGBTQ rights throughout his life and career.
When running for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1994, he fought the removal of Washington Blade newspapers from libraries. When running in 2008 for the U.S. house seat vacated by Tom Davis, a Republican, Connolly campaigned against the amendment to Virginia’s constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.
In Congress, he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, the Biden-Harris administration’s rescission of the anti-trans military ban, and the designation within the State Department of a special LGBTQ rights envoy. The congressman also was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and co-sponsored legislation to repeal parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would criminalize guideline-directed gender affirming health care for minors, will advance to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.
Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.
LGBTQ advocates warn conservative lawmakers want to go after families who travel out of state to obtain medical care for their transgender kids that is banned or restricted in the places where they reside, using legislation like Greene’s to expand federal jurisdiction over these decisions. They also point to the medically inaccurate way in which the bill characterizes evidence-based interventions delineated in standards of care for trans and gender diverse youth as “mutilation” or “chemical castration.”
Days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” an executive order declaring that the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” medical treatments and interventions intended for this purpose.
Greene, who has introduced the bill in years past, noted the president’s endorsement of her bill during his address to the joint session of Congress in March when he said “I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”
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