LGBTQ+ Stories You Should Know About

The 2023 Out for America Report is Live!

We are so excited to share the 2023 Out for America report! Every year, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute publishes a look at the number and demographics of out LGBTQ+ elected officials in the United States. If you want to get into the details, you can browse the full report and all the key findings here.

The number of out elected officials increased by 13.6% and a record-breaking 1,185 are currently serving in elected office in the United States! Even more exciting? Since Out for America was first published in 2017, there has been a 164.5% increase in LGBTQ+ elected officials!

Eight for Eight in Virginia

This Tuesday, Victory Fund had eight endorsed candidates on the ballot for state legislative seats in Virginia. And guess what - all eight of them won! Laura Jane Cohen, Josh Cole, Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Adam Ebbin, Rozia Henson, Adele McClure, Danica Roem and Mark Sickles are all headed to the general election in November. If all eight win, we’ll have the most LGBTQ+ representation in the Virginia legislature in history!

Over the weekend, Political Manager Michelle Atwood was on the ground canvassing for Rozia Henson for GOTV. Michelle and Political Associate Sarah Green were also in Virginia with Rozia, Laura Jane Cohen, Adele McClure and Jonathan Dromgoole! This support made a significant impact in tight races like Rozia’s, where the vote difference was less than 50 votes.

Karl Frisch, running for the Fairfax County School Board, and Michael Pruitt, running for the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, were unopposed!

A Pro-Equality House in 2024

It’s official: the race to retake the U.S. House from anti-equality leaders has begun. Step 1: endorse Representatives Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Chris Pappas and Eric Sorensen. Angie, Sharice, Chris and Eric are all in swing districts and we need their voices in the U.S. House. Reelecting them is critical if we're going to restore a pro-choice, pro-equality majority and pass bills like the Equality Act!

Step 2: endorse LGBTQ+ candidates running in key seats and make LGBTQ+ history. That’s why we endorsed Julie Johnson, running for Texas-34! First elected to the Texas Legislature in 2018, Julie pushed for LGBTQ+ equality and wracked up a series of legislative victories. Her hard work is reflected in the number of endorsements she received upon announcing her campaign!

We were honored to host Julie in our office for a fundraiser, organized by Political Associate Candace Silver!

One Week: New York Elections

We’re in a New York state of mind – because the primary elections are next week! That’s right, there’s a huge slate of LGBTQ+ candidates on the ballot next week in the city so nice they named it twice. Meet all the candidates here!

If you’re out and about in Queens this weekend, you may just run into incumbent LGBTQ+ candidate Lynn Schulman, who’s hosting a series of canvassing events. Lynn also spoke with the Queens Chronicle about her future plans, including efforts to increase healthcare access.

Historic Victory in Forest Heights!

It’s official: Troy Barrington Lilly is now mayor of Forest Heights, MD! Troy, who has been acting mayor since the previous mayor resigned, won his special election with an overwhelming majority of the votes. Congratulations, Troy!