Florida voters could elect as many as three transgender candidates to the state legislature this cycle.

By Lil Kalish

LGBTQ+ Democratic candidates for Florida’s state legislature are hoping to break up the Republican supermajority in both chambers of government, and gain the seats needed to push back against the wave of discriminatory bills introduced by state lawmakers there.

And for them, it’s personal: These candidates have said they felt inspired to run to counter Florida Gov. and former Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ war on queer and trans rights, abortion and all of the things he views as “woke.”  

Ashley Brundage, a Democratic candidate for the Tampa-area House District 65, said that DeSantis’ support of “culture war bills” — like the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which banned classroom discussions of gender and sexuality, or its law barring trans people from using government-owned bathroomsthat align with their gender — are what pushed her to run for office.

If elected, Brundage, a business owner and mother of two, would become Florida’s first openly trans woman to be elected to the state legislature. She will face incumbent Republican state Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman. The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee released campaign mailers that stoked fears about Brundage’s qualifications and used unflattering images of her, including a photo of the candidate in a bikini. The state GOP has also used anti-trans rhetoric to drum up antagonism against trans athletes.  

Brundage said she hopes DeSantis, who signed off on the “Spirit of The Community” award that Brundage received from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women in 2022, attends her would-be swearing in celebration in January. 

“Obviously, just getting elected will change the way they have conversations,” Brundage told The Advocate. “Ron DeSantis’ neck will be hurting in every room he moves into, checking if I’m in the room.”

Brundage added that greater trans and queer representation in the state’s House of Representatives would “systematically” change “the entire political operation.”  

Currently, Florida has only two out LGBTQ+ members in the state government, both Democrats, both elected in 2020. Shevrin Jones is the first Black and first gay state senator and Michele Rayner is the first Black lesbian state representative. 

Now Douglas aims to unseat Rep. Susan Plasencia — and has already raised more than double the funds of his Republican opponent. While Plasencia voted against a now-defunct bill last year to restrict trans people from updating their gender on their drivers’ licenses, she voted in favor of Senate Bill 254, which banned gender-affirming medical care for minors and many adults in Florida, and also backed other anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Agenda PAC, a committee aiming to hold anti-LGBTQ elected officials accountable, has labeled Plasencia one of 10 lawmakers on their “hate squad.”  

“Right now, we’re seeing a large push for authoritarianism, where we have the state government telling people how they can live their lives, who they can love, how they can express themselves,” Douglas told The Advocate. It has felt very shameful, and it felt scary as well.”

Among the LGBTQ+ candidates in Florida are both political newcomers and seasoned advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. Vance Ahrens, a Navy Veteran and trans woman, is running for state Senate District 19 the first time. She’s hoping to unseat Randy Fine, a Republican state House member who sponsored SB 254. He’s also defended a billthat would ban drag performances, though he claimed that the bill would have no impact on the LGBTQ+ community. 

“If it means erasing a community, because you have to target children, then damn right we outta do it,” Fine said of the bill.

The Supreme Court later blocked Florida’s drag ban — which DeSantis signed into law —  from going into effect.  

Other candidates, like Nathan Bruemmer, the former head of the state’s LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus; Joe Saunders, a former state lawmaker and professor; and Jim Brenner, who worked as former Secretary of State John Kerry’s economic policy adviser; could also usher in a new wave of LGBTQ+ elected officials. 

Bruemmer, a candidate for House District 61 and a trans man, has spoken out against some of the policies that DeSantis — and state agencies stacked with DeSantis appointees — have put in place to make life harder for trans people.

In January this year, Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles quietly issued a memo that barred residents from updating or changing their gender on state driver’s licenses. This memo, which also grounded its reasoning on a very narrow definition of legal sex that makes no provision for transgender people, had immediate impacts on the lives of trans Floridians.

Bruemmer told Jax Today that trans people who can’t obtain accurate identification documents will face greater rates of harassment and violence.

“Our government agencies must remember that their responsibility is to serve Floridians — not the failed agenda of a power-hungry governor who is out of touch with the people of Florida,” he said.