Celebrating Historic LGBTQ+ Representation in the 2022 Elections

While we don’t know the full results from Tuesday’s midterm elections yet, we know there are many things to celebrate, including the historic representation of LGBTQ+ elected officials. We are celebrating:

  • Maura Healey was elected the first out lesbian governor in the country, as well as the first woman governor in Massachusetts.
  • Oregon’s Tina Kotek was voted in as the nation’s second openly lesbian governor.
  • Andrea Campbell won a historic victory as the first Black woman Attorney General in Massachusetts.
  • Vermont has elected its first LGBTQ+ legislator – and first woman – to Congress in Representative-Elect Becca Balint.
  • California Representative-Elect Robert Garcia became the first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress. He is the third openly gay representative elected to Congress from California.
  • Montana and Minnesota elected their first transgender state representatives:  Zooey Zephyr in Montana and Leigh Finke in Minnesota.
  • New Hampshire Representative-Elect James Roesener became the first transgender man ever elected to a state legislature.
  • Minnesota elected Alicia Kozlowski, the first nonbinary member in the state legislature.

Along with so many firsts, voters supported a number of positive ballot measures:

  • Five states voted to protect access to abortion: California, Michigan, Vermont, Kentucky, and Montana.
  • Vermont, along with Alabama, Oregon, and Tennessee, passed constitutional amendments banning slavery and involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime.
  • In a crucial win for voting rights, Michigan and Connecticut expanded early voting.
  • In Massachusetts, voters upheld a law that protects access to driver’s licenses for all people who live in the Commonwealth, regardless of immigration status.

Celebrating our victories fuels our hope, and our hope will sustain us in our work for justice.

The path to protecting democracy and truly fulfilling the promise of freedom, equality, and justice for all is long. It extends beyond any one election cycle. This election held some good news and some setbacks, but we must all stay engaged every day for the long term. With you by our side, GLAD will be here to keep fighting every day and every step of the way.