Mississippi only state with no elected LGBTQ official: report

Mississippi is the only state in the U.S. with no known out LGBTQ elected official serving, according to a new annual report by the LGBTQ Victory Institute. 

Nationwide, LGBTQ elected officials increased by 17 percent in the last year, with 986 currently serving, according to the report. Eighty-four percent of all LGBTQ elected officials are Democrats, while just 3 percent are Republicans. 

Annise Parker, the organization’s president and CEO, acknowledged the partisan divide among LGBTQ officials to The New York Times.

“There are more trans elected officials than there are out Republican elected officials,” she said.

California leads the country with the highest number of LGBTQ elected officials of any state, at 157. Pennsylvania and Illinois have the next highest numbers, at 54 and 43, respectively.

Parker told the Times that former President Trump had been “probably the best recruiter of Democratic candidates you could possibly have.”

The institute’s report follows a host of GOP-backed measures this year targeting transgender people, ranging from legislation banning transgender girls from participating in girls sports to bills prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.