LGBTQ+ Stories You Should Know About

Victories Across the Country

Tuesday was Election Day in California, Florida and Vermont! LGBTQ+ Victory Fund candidates Alan Clendenin, running for Tampa City Council, made it to the April 25th runoff and Michaela Perez’s race for Oxnard City Council in California remains too close to call.

Jane Castor, running for reelection as Mayor of Tampa, Florida, easily won with over 80% of the vote!

Charles Judge, running for Winooski City Council in Vermont, won on Tuesday as well. Winooski is now the third city in U.S. history to have an all-LGBTQ+ city council!

Tyler Titus Announces Bid for Erie City Council

It’s official: Tyler Titus is running for Erie City Council! If elected, they will be the first out trans person to ever serve on the Council. Victory Fund is excited to support their historic race and is proud to be one of their first endorsements this cycle.

Catch up quick: after becoming the first out elected trans official in Pennsylvania history in 2017, Tyler has spent the past five years at the frontline fighting for change, justice and equity within the state.

Mayor Parker on Anti-LGBTQ Bills & Fighting Back

On Wednesday, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President & CEO Mayor Parker joined Julie Mason on Sirius XM to discuss the wave of anti-LGBTQ bills sweeping our country – and Victory Fund’s strategy to fight back. There is no such thing as an “off year” and in 2023, there are multiple out LGBTQ state legislative candidates on the ballot.

Spotlight candidate Danica Roem, who is running for the Virginia state Senate, continues to kill bill after bill in Virginia and in Mississippi, one of just two states with zero out LGBTQ state lawmakers, Fabian Nelson is running for the state House which just passed a horrific anti-trans bill. Listen to Mayor Parker’s full interview here.

Black LGBTQ+ Leaders Who Refuse to Be Silenced

BET just put out a list of Black activists who “won't keep quiet in the name of justice,” including Victory Fund candidate Andrea Jenkins! Andrea is running for reelection to the Minneapolis City Council. She previously made history in 2017 when she became the first out trans woman ever elected to public office in the United States.

ICYMI: PinkNews profiled Councilwoman Jenkins last week about her advocacy work and experience as the first Black out trans elected official in history.

Op-Ed Alert: Crystal Hudson on Protecting Black Futures

New York City Council candidate Crystal Hudson penned an op-ed in the Brooklyn Paper about the moral obligation to protect Black New York renters. “The pandemic accelerated trends of displacement in our Black and brown, poor and working-class neighborhoods… Understanding the mechanisms driving the affordability crisis and enacting meaningful solutions is critical.” Read her full op-ed here.