Nominees Announced for Victory Institute’s 2019 Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award
"The first openly LGBTQ African American elected to Colorado’s state legislature, Leslie Herod is a staunch defender of the LGBTQ community. She has co-sponsored a diverse slate of legislation, tackling topics from banning conversion therapy to prison and police reform to creating child college saving accounts, and seen much of it signed into law." Read full article #LeslieHerod #LGBTQ #TammyBaldwin
ON THE ROLE OF IDENTITY IN CREATING BETTER POLICY: AN INTERVIEW WITH LESLIE HEROD
"Our BlackHer Shero of the Week is Leslie Herod, a state representative for Colorado.Representative Herod is the first African American LGBTQ candidate elected to the Colorado State Legislature. Her previous political experience includes serving as deputy political director for President Obama’s reelection campaign in Colorado. She is also a co-founder of New Era Colorado, the state’s leading organization focused on the engagement of young people. Finally, she served as pr
Colorado to hold CDOC accountable for dangers posed to transgender inmates
"In May of 2018, the Colorado House of Representatives passed a resolution by Reps. Leslie Herod, Adrienne Benavidez and other legislators, including Pete Lee and Tony Exum, to address the issue of discrimination suffered by transgender inmates in CDOC care. The resolution ordered CDOC to establish policies to protect transgender inmates that are consistent with the Prison Rape Elimination Act and standards set out by the American Correctional Association and the National Cor
Most Diverse State Legislature In History Begins 2019 Session
"While sex and race may not dominate the agenda, they will play a key role in several bills says Rep. Leslie Herod, “I think we’re going to be tackling issues that we haven’t talked about before. We’re going to be leaning pretty heavily on criminal justice reform.” "She says the large number of women will also change the dynamic, “As women I think we’re naturally a little bit more collaborative and plan to collaborate with all women including Republicans to get the job done f
The Stream Discusses the LGBTQ Glass Ceiling
This year, over 400 LGBTQ candidates are running for office in the United States. Hundreds more are running around the world—and are being elected. Al Jazeera’s program, The Stream hosted by Femi Oke and Malika Bilal, recently covered how LGBTQ politicians are breaking the glass ceiling around the globe. They interviewed officials like Victory-endorsed official Rep. Leslie Herod, Venezuelan National Assembly Member Tamara Adrian, and Victory Fund President and CEO, former Hou
#Pride: How are LGBT politicians cracking the glass ceiling?
Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Luxemburg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Belgium’s former prime minister, Elio Di Rupo, and Iceland’s former prime minister, Johanna Siguroardottir, all come from different places but belong to the same club. Each of them was elected while openly gay. LGBT politicians are slowly stepping out of the shadows and reaching their nation’s highest offices, something unfathomable until very recently. In 2017, 33
Only 0.1 percent of elected officials are LGBTQ, new report finds
Even a decade ago, being an openly LGBTQ candidate was typically a “deal breaker,” according to Brian Harrison, a political scientist at Northwestern University. “That’s changing,” he said, noting “being LGBTQ isn’t nearly the liability that it used to be.” Still, there are only 559 known openly LGBTQ elected officials in the U.S., just 0.1 percent of elected officials nationwide, according to a new Victory Institute report. To achieve proportionate representation, America’s
Here’s the Badass Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans Activist Herstory Quiz You Wish You Had in School
Get out your Sharpie markers and flattened cardboard boxes out because it’s time to get activist-y AF! Unfortunately, most of us didn’t or won’t learn much at all about LGBTQ activist history in school and almost definitely nothing about lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans women in history. That just means that we need to hear the stories of our elders and foremothers and carry them forward, you know? Because we’ve been fighting back as long as it’s been documented in ways bi
STORMING THE CAPITOL: WHAT LGBTQ LOBBY DAY FOUGHT FOR
Representative Leslie Herod, a member of Colorado’s LGBTQ Caucus, spoke briefly, urging constituents to stay politically informed and active, because the legislative process is an arduous and slippery one, making progress susceptible to attacks. “I think the tide is turning,” she said smiling. “But, we know that our issues are much bigger than just marriage [equality]. We are impacted by everything that happens in this building.” Shortly thereafter, Herod and other members of
