NPR

Trans And Nonbinary Candidates Set Record Wins In Red And Blue States

In 2020, transgender candidates continued to win elections. In Kansas, one winner, Stephanie Byers, says voters seemed more concerned with her policy than with her gender identity.
Stephanie Byers, pictured here as a 2018 GLSEN Educator of the Year, won her 2020 race for the Kansas state House of Representatives.

In the 2020 general election, voters elected six transgender candidates to state office, a historic turn that will increase the number of trans elected officials in state legislatures from four to seven nationwide.

"For the entire LGBTQ community, but especially for trans people, these victories are incredibly meaningful and indicate a growing level of acceptance that definitely was not there just a few years before," says Elliot Imse, Senior Director of Communications at LGBTQ Victory Fund.

Openly trans candidates were elected, or reelected, to 32 when new winners take office next year.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Mystik Dan Wins The Kentucky Derby By A Nose
In a close finish, Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby by a horse's nostril over Sierra Leone. Contenders waited with bated breath in the seconds before the official decision was made. The thoroughbred had entered the race with 18-1 odds — a longshot c
NPR4 min read
'Zillow Gone Wild' Brings Wacky Real Estate Listings To HGTV
Zillow Gone Wild started in 2020 as an Instagram account devoted to eccentric property listings. The show focuses on homes that defy everyday expectations in some way.
NPR4 min read
Cicadas Are Back On The Menu. One Chef Shares His Dish Ideas — And An Easy Recipe
The cicadas are coming! And so are some new flavor profiles. This spring, the bugs of two broods, the 13-year Brood XIX and the 17-year Brood XIII, will crawl from the ground simultaneously across the eastern and southern parts of the United States.

Related Books & Audiobooks