Julie Johnson Could Be The First Lesbian In The U.S. House From Texas

Democrat Julie Johnson could be the first Texas lesbian in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is currently a member of the Texas House and is running as Texas’s 32 Congressional District representative.

The 32^nd District includes parts of Dallas and nearby communities. Colin Allred, the current District’s Congressman will run for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, expecting to challenge Senator Ted Cruz.

If elected, Julie Johnson would be the first out LGBTQ+ member of the House elected from the Deep South in general.

“To be the first one from Texas — to be the first one from any Southern state, where so much of this hate genesis is — is a clear policy statement and a political statement from voters that, ‘No, we don’t support these initiatives, and we value our LGBT members who are smart and talented and work hard for us,’” Johnson said.Southern states have been known for anti-LGBTQ+ policies, some of them introduced by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Nationwide, there were more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced this year, a record number.In 2024, it will be 30 years since a Democrat was last elected to a statewide office in Texas.

This year Texas passed a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender children. In addition, 53 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in Texas, 90% of them were blocked by legislators supporting equality.