Stephe Koontz
Stephe Koontz is the first out transgender person to win a contested election in the state of Georgia.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] She won a city council seat in the metro Atlanta city of Doraville on November 7, 2017,[13][14][15] on what the Washington Post called "a "historic night for the nation’s transgender community," in which six openly transgender people won elections in the United States.[1] A 32-year resident and political activist in the city, she focused on the issues, rather than her gender identity, to win by a narrow margin of six votes.[16]
Stephe Koontz | |
---|---|
Doraville City Council | |
Assumed office January, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Sharon Spangler |
City Council Member, 3rd District |
Koontz was invited to speak at the Georgia Alliance for Social Justice and Women's March "Power to the Polls" event on January 21, 2018.[2] She was also featured, with other history-making elected officials, in Human Rights Campaign's nationally-distributed Equality magazine.[17] She was given the 2019 Allen Thornell Political Advancement Award by GA Equality for her promotion of non-discrimination ordinances across Metro Atlanta cities.[18]
Background
Koontz has lived in Doraville since 1985.[19] Koontz retired before running for office. She had owned and managed a few auto repair shops and had worked as a church administrator. She was a director for the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta and a lieutenant governor for the North Atlanta Division of Kiwanis service clubs.[20]
References
- Eltagouri, Marwa (2017-11-09). "Transgender people have been elected before. But they can finally let the voters know". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Grinberg, Emanuella. "One year ago, she marched. This year, she's a councilwoman". CNN. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "Transgender America: 10 Best and Worst Moments of 2017". Rolling Stone. 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Jarvie, Nina Agrawal, Dakota Smith, Laura King, Jenny (2018-01-19). "After a year of Trump and outrage, this weekend's women's march will focus on electoral politics". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "Meet 2017's newly elected transgender officials". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "LGBTQ political candidates score historic victories across U.S." NBC News. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Girard, Charles (2017-11-08). "Meet the Transgender Americans Who Won on Election Day | Human Rights Campaign". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Team, WGCL Digital. "DeKalb County woman is Georgia's only transgender elected official". Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "Es vital que los latinos voten en todas y cada una de las elecciones (VIDEO)". Mundo Hispanico (in Spanish). 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Beckwith, Cerys; Wu, Jay (2017-11-09). "The Eight Trans Officials Who Made History Tuesday Night". Medium. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Allen, Samantha (2017-11-08). "How LGBT Candidates Won So Big on Election Night". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Siperstein, Barbra Casbar (2017-12-06). "Fighting Back and Preparing for 2018". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "Mayor and City Council". www.doravillega.us. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Hightower, Jim (2018-03-06). "Jim Hightower: There's a Blue Wave Cresting in Statewide Elections". AlterNet. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "TÊTU | Un an après Trump, les États-Unis élisent 7 représentant·e·s trans". TÊTU (in French). 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- "Doraville woman becomes Georgia's only transgender elected official". myajc. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- Simon, Carolyn (Fall 2017). "Our Time Is Now". Equality: 7 – via ISSUU.
- "State's only transgender elected official recognized by LGBTQ rights group".
- Joshua Sharpe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Doraville woman becomes Georgia's only transgender elected official". ajc. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
- Sep 6, Matt Hennie |; Pm, 2017 | 4:02. "Meet the trans business owner running for Doraville City Council". Project Q. Retrieved 2019-02-05.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)