Mississippi Democrat poised to become the state’s first openly gay lawmaker
www.nbcnews.com
“I still think I’m in a dream. I’m still trying to process it and take it in,” Fabian Nelson said after his historic victory.

Mississippi will have its first-ever openly gay state legislator after a House candidate won his Democratic primary election runoff Tuesday.

Fabian Nelson, a 38-year-old Realtor from Byram, prevailed over Roshunda Harris-Allen, an education professor at Tougaloo College and alderwoman in Byram. The race to represent the House district in the south Jackson metro area was decided in a runoff after neither Nelson nor Allen received a majority vote in the Aug. 8 primary. A local pastor finished a distant third and did not advance to the runoff.

Republicans did not field a candidate for the general election, so Nelson will go on to represent the district. He will be sworn in before the next legislative session in January. His win marks the fulfillment of a goal he’s had since visiting the Capitol on an elementary school field trip and telling his teacher he’d sit on the House floor one day.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    64·
    1 year ago

    The article literally gave the reasons why:

    “It sends a real message in a time when we are seeing attacks legislatively and through violence against the LGBTQ+ community that the majority of people reject that kind of animus,” Rob Hill, state director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Mississippi chapter, said in an interview after Nelson’s victory. “I think a lot of youth around the state who have felt like their leaders are rejecting them or targeting them won’t feel as lonely today.”

    …

    Nelson’s victory comes on the heels of a historic wave of restrictions passed by Republican-controlled legislatures targeting the rights of transgender people. LGBTQ advocates say they’ve seen a record number of measures aimed at their community in 2023. In February, Mississippi enacted a ban on gender-affirming hormones or surgery for anyone in the state younger than 18.

    • wrath-sedan@kbin.social
      31·
      1 year ago

      Came to say exactly this. Especially given the wave of anti-LGBTQ legal attacks sweeping states like Mississippi electing their first openly gay rep is a big deal.

      • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        It’s only a big deal if they vote in a way that makes it a big deal. Look at the Supreme Court. It’s majority is black and female, but that didn’t stop them from killing the right to abortion.

        Otherwise, it’s just meaningless symbolism. (But I hope this person uses their vote to do good things.)