Kent Bombard was elected last week and is now one of two openly gay mayors in the state of Minnesota.
Gay rights are furthered every day, even in the smallest of ways, and this is clear in Pine City, Minnesota, a small town with a population of only 3,700 people, where they just elected their first gay mayor, Kent Bombard. He is only one of two gay current mayors in Minnesota, out of the 854 cities in the state. “It’s incredible. It’s crazy. It’s surprising that it’s 2024, and there’s only two in the state of Minnesota,” Bombard says.
Bombard and his husband, Aaron, live in Pine City, and Bombard has previously served his community by working in IT for the count and serving on the Pine City Planning Commission. “It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight. Leading a city is leading a city. Being part of the community is being a part of a community and it takes all kinds to make the world go around,” Bombard tells FOX 9.
Pine City started the East Central Minnesota Pride in 2005, and it was the first rural, small town in Minnesota to host a Pride celebration.
As mayor, Bombard plans to increase housing and job opportunities in Pine City and is excited to see what positive changes he can bring about. “It’s fantastic. I’m ready to hit the ground running. I’m ready to help lead and help make positive change,” he says.
The amount of LGBTQ+ people who hold a position as an elected official has increased, and currently every state has at least one openly queer elected official, according to LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. However, this can have negative effects in conservative states. An Oklahoma town’s first gay mayor had to resign due to concerns for his safety, after being followed, threatened, and having his tires slashed in 2022.
We still have a long way to go protecting LGBTQ+ people in politics, but Bombard’s election is proof that it is getting better.
Photo courtesy of social media
