Number of LGBTQ Elected Officials in US is Rising
The LGBTQ community has been historically underrepresented in the U.S. government. However, according to Out for America 2022, a report by the Victory Institute, the number of LGBTQ elected officials has been on the rise. Since 2017, queer representation has grown from 448 elected officials to 1,043 this year.
“LGBTQ elected officials are on the front lines of defending our rights and freedoms, which are under threat at ever level of government,” says Annise Parker, president and CEO of the Victory Institute and former Houston, Texas mayor. “Despite the fact that the LGBTQ community has never had equitable representation in government—and we still have a long way to go—there are clear signs of progress.”
The report states that, out of 519,582 elected positions, only 0.2% are filled by lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. Also, states like Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Dakota have yet to see queer state legislators at all.
For the approximate 7.1% of individuals in the LGBTQ community to gain equitable representation, 35,854 more out, LGBTQ public servants must be elected.
Long Beach, California Mayor Robert Garcia said during a speech earlier this year, “We have to elect folks from diverse communities. We have a richer conversation when we have different perspectives at the table.”
He is currently pursuing a position in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I know the way queer people can be demonized,” Leigh Fink, a candidate for the Minnesota House, tells NBC News. “It is absolutely necessary for somebody to be in the room.”
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NBC News reports that, in the last year, state legislators have introduced nearly 240 anti-LGBTQ bills, many of which target transgender people and their ability to participate in sports, use gender-appropriate restrooms, and gain access to gender-affirming healthcare.
“Our rights are on the ballot this year,” Parker tells CNN. “The people we elect this cycle will make decisions about what our kids are allowed to learn and say in the classroom, what healthcare choices people will be allowed to make about their own bodies, and possibly, whether we will continue to be allowed to marry those we love.”
As of July, CNN reported that about 1,008 LGBTQ candidates are running for office. Two, Jennifer Armstrong and Andrew Gray, have already had monumental success as they moved into Alaska’s primary election on August 16, according to the Victory Institutes’ sister organization the Victory Fund.
“Electing trans people is not going out of the way to do some gracious thing,” Fink says. “We are embedded in the world. We deserve an equal voice.”
Denver, Colorado’s general election will be held on November 8, 2022.
