Olivia Hill’s historic election to the Nashville Metro Council will make her the state’s first transgender lawmaker, according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

Nashville voters elected Tennessee’s first transgender lawmaker Thursday, according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a political action group that aims to elect queer people to public office.

The historic victory comes months after Tennessee made national headlines for passing laws that restrict certain drag performances and prohibit transition-related medical care for minors.

Olivia Hill, 57, won one of Nashville Metro Council’s four nonpartisan seats up for grabs, securing 12.9% of the vote, according to election data site Ballotpedia. She served in the Navy for 10 years as an engineer before working as an engineer for Vanderbilt University, according to her campaign website. She has also been a vocal LGBTQ advocate in Nashville and beyond, serving on the board of directors for the Tennessee Pride Chamber, the website says.

    • lolrightythen@lemmy.world
      206·
      1 year ago

      What a beautiful glimpse of hope! Headlines are headlines. This one was in direct opposition to the gloomy ones I sadly accept without any evidence.

      One bad review has the power to taint nine good ones.

      I think this works in reverse as well.

      Cheers, yo!

  • fiat_lux@kbin.social
    552·
    1 year ago

    Initial reaction: “Huh, Tennessee? That’s unusual”

    On further reading: “oh, Nashville Metro Council. It’s a city-county council that represents under 20k people.”*

    The title makes it read like a state representative to my foreign eyes.

    * Edit: my mistake, each council member represents 15-17k people. Thanks @analwound for the correction.

    • cbarrick@lemmy.worldEnglish
      432·
      1 year ago

      The title makes it read like a state representative to my American eyes.

      I don’t think anyone would call a city council member a “lawmaker” in the US. We don’t even call them “laws” at the city level; they’re called “ordinances”.

      • fiat_lux@kbin.social
        3·
        1 year ago

        My mistake, I misread this:

        The members elected by districts represent 15,000 to 17,000 residents each, and all Metro Council members serve part-time.

        She represents under 20k people, which is a lot of people. So that’s cool.

    • Kalash@feddit.ch
      51·
      1 year ago

      Thanks @analwound for the correction.

      Damn, there used to be subreddit for when people with inappropriate names give good advise. Does anyone know what it was called and if lemmy has one?

    • Rekliner@lemmy.ca
      383·
      1 year ago

      Well, I voted for them so I’ll take partial credit.

      Nashville is an oasis of blue in a red state… But I suppose that describes all big cities in red states these days.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
    33·
    1 year ago

    I’d get so much more excited about these headlines if these people didn’t invariably end up being pro-corporate shills every time.