Emma Curtis launches campaign to become Kentucky’s first transgender representative

Emma Curtis was one of the leading protesters against the GOP-led Kentucky legislature when it passed Senate Bill 150, which banned gender-affirming care for trans kids and greatly limited discussion of trans issues in schools.

Now Curtis is seeking to join the legislature with the possibility of becoming its first-ever transgender member.

Curtis, a 26 year-old Democrat, filed a statement of spending intent for the Lexington-based 93rd House District — a seat left open by the May 14 passing of Rep. Lamin Swann, D-Lexington — on May 22 with the state’s election finance agency.

An independent filmmaker who resides in Lexington and is originally from Woodford County, Curtis graduated from Centre College in 2018.

Curtis is not the first transgender person to vie for a seat in the Kentucky House. Ramona Harris attempted to unseat incumbent former Louisville Democratic representative Charlie Miller in a 2020 primary, but lost by about 17 percentage points. Rebecca Blankenship, who also played a role in the protests against SB 150 and is involved in Curtis’ campaign, became the first openly transgender elected official in the state last year when she won a seat on the Berea Independent School District’s board.

Though Curtis recognizes the import of her identity on her campaign, she said she’s running for myriad reasons.

“While the significance is not lost on me, that I would be the first transgender statewide elected official, it’s also important to know that I’m not running to be ‘the transgender state representative.’ I’m running to be the state representative for the 93rd district,” Curtis said.

Top of mind for Curtis is raising teacher pay, affordable housing, social justice and income inequality.

It’s not a given, however, that Curtis will be the Democratic nominee. Gov. Andy Beshear called the special election to fill Swann’s seat for Nov. 7, the same time that voters will decide between Republicans and Democrats, including Beshear’s reelection bid against Attorney General Daniel Cameron, for statewide office. In special elections, primary candidates are chosen not by the voters, but by nominating committees formed by party members within the district.

House District 93, centered around the Tates Creek schools in southern Fayette County, is a rare Democratic stronghold on a state House map that most recently produced an 80-20 majority for the GOP. Swann was a freshman Democratic legislator who defeated his 2022 general election opponent by nearly eight points despite being significantly outraised; the district swung for Democratic President Joe Biden by 17 points, according to election website CNAlysis.

Curtis said she decided to make a bid for the office when members of Swann’s 2022 campaign, as well as people close to him, asked her if she’d run.

She said her philosophy in the role would be that of a “pragmatic progressive,” working to get things done despite being in a minority that has often been shunned to legislative irrelevance by the statehouse GOP. She touted the relationships she’s built with Republicans in Frankfort — Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, gave Curtis a shoutout on the Senate floor this session — as an argument for her candidacy.

“I think it will be a tangible good for all of the trans kids and members of the LGBTQ community to see somebody like them on the statehouse floor and know that they have a place in this Commonwealth. I also intend to work with Republicans in ways that are perhaps less expected. I think, at the end of the day, we have a lot more in common than we don’t,” Curtis said.

She was one of a few committed activists who testified at the controversial and hastily-called committee meeting where Republicans pushed through the final version of Senate Bill 150 at the eleventh hour.

Curtis’ potential candidacy could come at a time where trans rights have dominated recent political discussion in the Commonwealth. A massive protest took place at the Capitol building in Frankfort as the legislature passed an omnibus bill that many LGBTQ Kentuckians deemed one of the most ‘anti-trans’ bills in the nation.

On the political right, the first line of attack against Beshear to hit television airwaves — funded by a political action committee backed by the Republican Governors Association — highlighted his veto of that bill, Senate Bill 150. Attacks from the right have not been limited to Republicans, either, as a mysterious group hit Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington, for his opposition to a bill that banned transgender girls and women from school and college sports activities.

Curtis said she believes that, despite Republicans homing in on trans issues, her candidacy would benefit the rest of the Democratic statewide ticket.

“I think the biggest obstacle we face is the myth that my trans identity is going to hurt my campaign and that it might hurt other candidates on the ballot. It makes me think of then-Senator Obama’s campaign when there were a bunch of naysayers saying that his race was a liability. In the end, we saw it turned out to be a huge asset to the party,” Curtis said. “I think that turning out more LGBTQ+ voters across the state will not only help strengthen our margin in this election, but also help the statewide ticket.”