Story at a glance
- A record-breaking 1,043 elected officials in the U.S. openly identify as LGBTQ+, according to a new report from the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
- 22 states have more LGBTQ+ elected officials than they did in 2021, while 10 states have less.
- The election of non-cisgender LGBTQ+ officials has outpaced that of cisgender LGBTQ+ officials, increasing 13.2 percent and 4.3 percent year-over-year, respectively.
More than 1,000 elected officials in the U.S. openly identify as LGBTQ+, new data shows, the most on record and up nearly 6 percent from one year ago.
A record-breaking total of 1,043 openly LGBTQ+ elected officials hold public office in 2022, up from 986 last year, according to an annual count published Thursday by the LGBTQ Victory Fund, an organization that helps elect more out LGBTQ+ candidates to public office.
In 22 states, LGBTQ+ representation is up from where it was a year ago, according to the Victory Fund report, though representation has declined in 10 states. Nationwide, openly LGBTQ+ people account for just 0.2 percent of elected officials, with close to 36,000 more needed to achieve equitable representation.
A Gallup poll published in February found that 7.1 percent of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual – double what it was a decade earlier.
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“Despite the fact the LGBTQ community has never had equitable representation in government – and we still have a long way to go – there are clear signs of progress,” Annise Parker, the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s president and chief executive, said Thursday in a statement. “They represent the strength and diversity of not only who we are as a society now, but also the America we aspire to build for future generations.”
Parker, who in 2009 became the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected mayor of a major U.S. city, on Wednesday acknowledged that the increase in LGBTQ+ elected officials comes during the worst legislative years for LGBTQ+ rights in recent history.
Hundreds of bills introduced in state legislatures across the country have threatened to restrict how LGBTQ+ people access health care, play sports or talk about their identity at school or the workplace.
“With a historic number of anti-LGBTQ legislation introduced this year, unprecedented attacks against trans kids and ongoing efforts to censor classrooms and libraries across the country, LGBTQ elected officials are on the front lines of defending our rights and freedoms,” Parker said.
Diversity among openly LGBTQ+ elected officials in terms of race, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation has also risen markedly from one year ago. Elected officials of color rose by 12.3 percent over last year, according to Thursday’s report, compared with an increase of just 1.3 percent for white LGBTQ+ elected officials.
Native American/Alaskan Native LGBTQ+ representation saw the most year-over-year growth, at 25 percent, with the number of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) LGBTQ+ elected officials growing at a slightly lower 19.2 percent rate.
Black LGBTQ+ elected officials increased at a similar pace (17.6 percent) and Latino LGBTQ+ representation in 2022 grew 8.3 percent over 2021, the Victory Fund said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the election of non-cisgender LGBTQ+ officials this year outpaced that of cisgender LGBTQ+ representation, growing by 13.2 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively. (Cisgender elected officials still account for roughly 93 percent of all public office holders in the U.S.).
Non-cisgender elected officials have increased more than tenfold in the last five years, according to Victory Fund data, surging to 77 in 2022 from just six in 2017. That includes a 33 percent increase in nonbinary or genderqueer elected officials and a 9.8 percent year-over-year increase in transgender elected officials, which are currently serving in 24 states.
Thirty-two states have elected non-cisgender officials to public office.
Openly bisexual elected officials increased at the fastest pace this year, rising by 26.8 percent to 90 from 71 in 2021. Pansexual elected officials were up by a similar 21.4 percent and elected officials who identify as queer rose by 13.3 percent.
Gay men elected to public office rose by 2.6 percent from one year ago, while the number of lesbians in office sank by 2.2 percent.
The Victory Fund last month announced that 1,006 openly LGBTQ+ candidates are running for public office this year, the most on record.