Five Stories You Should Know About
1. Victory in Kentucky: Keturah Herron Makes LGBTQ History!
Primary season has begun! In Texas, there was a historic number of LGTBQ candidates on the ballot. By the end of the night, 14 Victory Fund endorsed-candidates won their elections and four advanced to a runoff. 27 LGBTQ candidates won their races overall!
Venton Jones (@ventonjones) advanced to a runoff to represent the 100th House District. When Venton wins in November, he’ll be one of the first out LGBTQ Black men ever elected to the state legislature, and be the first out LGBTQ Black state legislator in the U.S. who is openly HIV-positive.
Jolanda Jones (@JonesJolanda), who is also running for the state House, advanced to a runoff election as well. She would be the first out LGBTQ Black woman elected to the state legislature. Jolanda received the most votes in this primary and will be heading to the runoff with a substantial lead!
The Texas runoffs will take place on May 24th.
That 27 out LGBTQ candidates – a record-breaking number - won their primaries is a promising sign to increase efforts to combat the blatant homophobia and transphobia occurring in legislatures around the country.
2. Big Wins in Vermont!
Four LGBTQ Candidates were on the ballot in Vermont on Tuesday – and all of them won!
Joe Magee (@joemageebtv) won his race for Burlington City Council against Christopher-Aaron Felker. Felker, a gay man, was pressured to drop out of the race after deleted tweets resurfaced which showed him using hateful language when responding to a trans person.
Additionally, Marybeth Lennox-Levins won her race for Rutland City Board of School Commissioners.
And two LGBTQ candidates for city council of Winooski won their elections. Victory Fund endorsed candidates Auora Hurd and Thomas Renner received the two highest vote totals from Tuesday’s election.
During a phone call to supporters on Tuesday night Thomas said, “I think that's going to give us a lot of good direction on how to make our city more equitable and just, on all different levels.”
3. Keturah Herron Sworn In
On Monday, Keturah Herron (@KeturahHerron) was sworn in as the first out LGBTQ state representative and only the third Black woman to serve in the Kentucky state house.
During her first floor speech, Keturah said, “It is an honor for the baton to be passed to me, to continue the work of service, justice, and creating a better commonwealth.”
Keturah is already hard at work representing the people of Louisville by voting to amend a harmful anti-abortion bill to allow exceptions for survivors of rape and incest and working to keep local control in the Louisville Metro government.
4. SPOTLIGHT: Zooey Zephyr Hits the Campaign Trail
Spotlight Candidate Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) spoke with LGBTQ Nation about her campaign for the Montana state legislature. Zooey will be the first trans person elected to the chamber in state history.
On the top of Zooey’s agenda is protection of trans people. She recalled how she felt compelled to run after testifying against an anti-trans sports bill that ultimately passed in 2021. This trend has continued across the country this year as Texas is now going after parents of trans kids and Florida is enacting LGBTQ school curriculum limitations.
Other issues that Zooey will champion are expansion of affordable housing, expansion of Medicaid, and increasing awareness and access to report victims of discrimination.
5. Women’s History Month: Celebrating Andrea Jenkins
Celebrate Women’s History Month by learning more about women LGBTQ political leaders. We will kick off this month by spotlighting Minneapolis City Council President, Andrea Jenkins (@annapoetic)!
Council President Jenkins has been serving in the Minneapolis 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. In 2020, Andrea made national headlines again for her leadership in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd. Earlier this year, Andrea became the first out transgender official to lead a U.S. city council.
In December 2021, Andrea was inducted into the 2021 class of Victory Institute’s LGBTQ Victory Hall of Fame with other outstanding LGBTQ leaders.
Learn more about Andrea and other LGBTQ women leaders at Pride and Progress, the only comprehensive timeline covering LGBTQ political power.
