Black LGBTQ representation has more than quadrupled over five years, report finds
Story at a glance
- Black LGBTQ representation in the U.S. has increased four-fold since 2018, according to a new report from the LGBTQ Victory Institute.
- Black LGBTQ women are responsible for most of that growth, with the number of Black LGBTQ women elected to public office up 256 percent – from 16 women in 2018 to 57 in 2023 – over the past five years.
- More than 1,000 openly LGBTQ elected officials currently serve in public office, the most on record.
Black LGBTQ representation in public office nationwide is four times what it was in 2018, with Black LGBTQ women at all levels of government leading the way, according to a new report from the LGBTQ Victory Institute, a national organization dedicated to elevating openly LGBTQ leaders to public office.
Wins among Black LGBTQ candidates in local, state and federal elections have powered recent advancements in LGBTQ representation overall, according to the report published Thursday. While the number of LGBTQ elected officials has risen by a sizable 108 percent since 2018, the number of Black LGBTQ elected leaders has skyrocketed, growing by more than 300 percent – from just 30 to 125 – between 2018 and 2023.
Black LGBTQ women in particular are responsible for most of that growth, according to Thursday’s report, and the number of Black LGBTQ women elected to public office has increased by 256 percent – from 16 women in 2018 to 57 in 2023 – over the past five years, compared to 89 percent for all LGBTQ women.
Those increases don't exist in a vacuum, Annise Parker, the president and chief executive of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, said Thursday in a statement, and the recent victories of Black LGBTQ candidates have inspired a new wave of leaders.
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“These leaders are not just disrupting the status quo by fighting for real, generational change, they are inspiring more leaders to either come out publicly or answer the call to public service themselves,” Parker said Thursday. “While we have a long way to go, the past five years prove that the momentum of history is on our side. We as a community must come together and answer this rallying cry by recruiting and training more Black LGBTQ leaders ready to serve in public office.”
"Black LGBTQ Americans have never had equitable representation in government – with the wounds to show for it,” Parker added. “Despite bearing the brunt of recent increases in homophobia, transphobia and racism, Black LGBTQ leaders continue to run for office and serve in record numbers.”
Black LGBTQ leaders have also led the charge to round out representation in state legislatures nationwide, according to Thursday’s report, with the number of Black LGBTQ state lawmakers increasing by 388 percent – from 8 in 2018 to 39 in 2023 – over the past five years, compared to an 88 percent increase for all LGBTQ state legislators.
Overall, LGBTQ representation in the U.S. is on the up and up, with more than 1,000 elected officials openly identifying as LGBTQ, according to an August LGBTQ Victory Institute report. In November, the organization reported that a record-breaking 340 LGBTQ candidates who ran in the 2022 midterms had won their elections.
A Gallup poll published this week found that 7.2 percent of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual – double what it was a decade earlier.