Four Stories You Should Know About

1. Andrea Jenkins Shattering Barriers in Minnesota

Andrea Jenkins (@annapoetic) has made history once again! On Monday, she was elected by her peers to serve as Minneapolis City Council President -- the first out transgender official in the United States to hold a council president position!

Council President Jenkins has been serving on the city council since 2017, when she became the first out Black transgender woman to win elected office in the U.S. and the first out transgender woman elected to a major city’s council.

“I hope that it serves as inspiration for other trans and gender-nonconforming people,” she told NBC News. “My vision for this council and for the city of Minneapolis is that we come together and begin the really significant work of healing after our city has been rocked by the murder of George Floyd and so many other Black and brown people who have lost their lives at the hands of the state.”

In December 2021, Andrea was inducted into the 2021 class of Victory Institute's LGBTQ Victory Hall of Fame.

 

2. Tina Kotek Rolls Out First Campaign Ad

Game Changer candidate for Governor of Oregon Tina Kotek (@Tina4Oregon) released her first campaign video on Twitter! Watch the full ad here.



When she’s elected, Tina will be the first out lesbian governor in the country!

3. Dana Nessel’s Opponent Running on Election Fraud Lies

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (@dananessel) is running for a second term as the state’s most powerful prosecutor. While Dana is working to investigate and prosecute false election claims, one of her opponents, Matthew DePerno, is amplifying them. Among other disproven claims, DePerno is alleging that he has proof voting machines were tampered with, votes were transferred from one candidate to another and more.

As Dana herself told the Washington Post: “no question that if I am replaced by Matthew DePerno, democracy falls in Michigan. Not maybe. Not possibly. Certainly. He has made it clear not only that he supports the ‘Big Lie’ — he’s one of the originators of the ‘Big Lie'.”

DePerno has a history of raising big money to fight for bogus claims of election fraud. Last summer he was able to raise over $400,000 from small dollar donors for his “election fraud defense fund.”

Luckily, new polling shows Dana has a slight edge over her extremist opponents. This race will be very contentious - and Dana will need our help to fight against DePerno’s harmful rhetoric.

4. Dion Manley Is OFFICIALLY the First Out Trans Elected Official in Ohio

Last November, Victory Fund-endorsed candidate Dion Manley won his race for the Gahanna School Board, officially shattering a rainbow ceiling as the first out trans person elected in Ohio history! As he took the oath of office this Monday, Dion stated, "I can’t even tell you how that felt in being out and visible in such a widespread manner. Not just because I'm trans but because I'm a regular Joe. A working-class single parent."

Dion’s election comes as anti-equality forces in the state push transphobic legislation such as limiting gender confirmation treatments, limiting participation in sports, and allowing doctors to decline services for religious reasons. School boards have been a priority target for these anti-trans activists.

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LGBTQ Victory Fund is the political arm of the LGBTQ community. Since our founding in 1991, we’ve supported and elected LGBTQ candidates like U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin, Governors Jared Polis and Kate Brown and all nine LGBTQ members of U.S. Congress. We've boosted out candidates running for state and local government, including California Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Florida Senator Shevrin Jones, Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, Colorado state Representative Leslie Herod, Pennsylvania state Representative Brian Sims, Hawaii state Representative Adrian Tam, Oklahoma Representative Mauree Turner, and so many more (meet all of our current candidates here)! We’ve shattered rainbow ceilings in all 50 states and broken election year records. You can power our work and the next Rainbow Wave with a donation today!

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