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
Ritchie Torres says he is unlikely to run for NY governor
One poll showed gay Democratic congressman nearly tied with Kathy Hochul
Gay Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York is unlikely to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the state’s next gubernatorial race, he said during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I’m unlikely to run for governor,” he said. ““I feel like the assault that we’ve seen on the social safety net in the Bronx is so unprecedented. It’s so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.”
Torres and Hochul were nearly tied in a poll this spring of likely Democratic voters in New York City, fueling speculation that the congressman might run. A Siena College poll, however, found Hochul leading with a wider margin.
Back in D.C., the congressman and his colleagues are unified in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which heads back to the House after passing the Senate by one vote this week.
To pay for tax cuts that disproportionately advantage the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the president and Congressional Republicans have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.
A provision in the Senate version of the bill that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation, reportedly after pressure from transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
Torres on “Morning Joe” said, “The so-called Big Beautiful Bill represents a betrayal of the working people of America and nowhere more so than in the Bronx,” adding, “It’s going to destabilize every health care provider, every hospital.”
Congress
House Democrats oppose Bessent’s removal of SOGI from discrimination complaint forms
Congressional Equality Caucus sharply criticized move
A letter issued last week by a group of House Democrats objects to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as bases for sex discrimination complaints in several Equal Employment Opportunity forms.
Bessent, who is gay, is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ official in American history and the second out Cabinet member next to Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary during the Biden-Harris administration.
The signatories to the letter include a few out members of Congress, Congressional Equality Caucus chair and co-chairs Mark Takano (Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), and Becca Balint (Vt.), along with U.S. Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).
The letter explains the “critical role” played by the EEO given the strictures and limits on how federal employees can find recourse for unlawful workplace discrimination — namely, without the ability to file complaints directly with the Employment Opportunity Commission or otherwise engage with the agency unless the complainant “appeal[s] an agency’s decision following the agency’s investigation or request[s] a hearing before an administrative judge.”
“Your attempt to remove ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases for sex discrimination complaints in numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forms will create unnecessary hurdles to employees filing EEO complaints and undermine enforcement of federal employee’s nondiscrimination protections,” the members wrote in their letter.
They further explain the legal basis behind LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal employees in the EEOC’s decisions in Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).
“It appears that these changes may be an attempt by the department to dissuade employees from reporting gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without forms clearly enumerating gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of sex discrimination, the average employee who experiences these forms of discrimination may see these forms and not realize that the discrimination they experienced was unlawful and something that they can report and seek recourse for.”
“A more alarming view would be that the department no longer plans to fulfill its legal obligations to investigate complaints of gender identity and sexual orientation and ensure its
employees are working in an environment free from these forms of discrimination,” they added.
Congress
Senate parliamentarian orders removal of gender-affirming care ban from GOP reconciliation bill
GOP Senate Leader John Thune (S.D.) hoped to pass the bill by end-of-week
Restrictions on the use of federal funds for gender-affirming care will be stripped from the Republican-led Senate reconciliation bill, following a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian on Tuesday that struck down a number of health related provisions.
The legislation banned coverage for transgender medical care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, language that was also included in the House version of the bill passed on May 22 with a vote of 215-214.
The parliamentarian’s decision also rejected Republican proposals for a Medicaid provider tax framework, which allows states to charge health care providers and use the funds to support their programs, along with broader cuts to Medicaid.
Amid calls to override Tuesday’s ruling from Republicans like U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (Fla.), GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) told reporters “That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done.”
He also acknowledged that the timing and schedule might have to be adjusted. Senate Republicans had hoped to pass the reconciliation bill by the end of this week, though this was not a legal or procedural deadline.
Dubbed the “one big, beautiful bill” by President Donald Trump, the legislation would extend tax breaks from 2017 that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations. To cover the cost, which is estimated to exceed $4 trillion over 10 years, the bill would make drastic cuts to social welfare programs, particularly Medicaid.
Democrats are not in a position to negotiate across the aisle with Republicans holding majorities in both chambers of Congress, but for months they have been calling attention to the effort by their GOP colleagues to strip Americans of their health insurance to pay for the tax breaks.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 10.9 million people would lose their coverage, either through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Some Republicans like U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) are pushing back against the deep cuts to Medicaid, arguing they would be devastating for many of their constituents and also to hospitals, nursing homes, and community health care providers in rural areas.
In a statement emailed to the Washington Blade on Tuesday, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said, “Anti-trans extremists are attempting to use the full power of the government to hurt kids, and recent Supreme Court decisions in Skrmetti and Medina are enabling their quest.”
While today’s ruling by the Senate parliamentarian is a temporary win, I will keep pushing back on these shameful attempts to harm trans kids and their families for trying to live authentically,” said the senator, who also serves as ranking member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who is gay and chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, also shared a statement with the Washington Blade addressing the parliamentarian’s ruling:
“This ruling by the Senate Parliamentarian is a win for the transgender people who rely on Medicaid and CHIP to access the healthcare they need to live fuller, happier, and healthier lives—but the fight is not over yet,” the congressman said.
“Republican Senators must abide by her ruling and remove the ban from the final version of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill,” he said. “Yet, even with this provision removed, this bill is terrible for the American people, including trans Americans. Every Equality Caucus member voted against it in the House and we’re ready to do so again if the Senate sends it back to the House.”
The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release with a statement from the organization’s vice president for government affairs, David Stacy:
“The fact remains that this bill belongs in the trash. It continues to include devastating cuts to health care programs — including Medicaid — that would disproportionately harm the LGBTQ+ community, all so the already rich can receive huge tax cuts,” Stacy said.
“While it comes as a relief that the Senate parliamentarian concluded that one provision in the nightmarish reconciliation bill that would have denied essential, best practice health care to transgender adults does not belong, we aren’t done fighting,” he said. “With attacks on our community coming from many directions, including the Supreme Court, we will work to defeat this bill with everything we’ve got.”
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