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 bySharon 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
  1. 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.
  2. Grinberg, Emanuella. "One year ago, she marched. This year, she's a councilwoman". CNN. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  3. "Transgender America: 10 Best and Worst Moments of 2017". Rolling Stone. 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  4. 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.
  5. "Meet 2017's newly elected transgender officials". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  6. "LGBTQ political candidates score historic victories across U.S." NBC News. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  7. Girard, Charles (2017-11-08). "Meet the Transgender Americans Who Won on Election Day | Human Rights Campaign". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  8. Team, WGCL Digital. "DeKalb County woman is Georgia's only transgender elected official". Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  9. "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.
  10. Beckwith, Cerys; Wu, Jay (2017-11-09). "The Eight Trans Officials Who Made History Tuesday Night". Medium. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  11. Allen, Samantha (2017-11-08). "How LGBT Candidates Won So Big on Election Night". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  12. Siperstein, Barbra Casbar (2017-12-06). "Fighting Back and Preparing for 2018". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  13. "Mayor and City Council". www.doravillega.us. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  14. Hightower, Jim (2018-03-06). "Jim Hightower: There's a Blue Wave Cresting in Statewide Elections". AlterNet. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  15. "TÊTU | Un an après Trump, les États-Unis élisent 7 représentant·e·s trans". TÊTU (in French). 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  16. "Doraville woman becomes Georgia's only transgender elected official". myajc. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  17. Simon, Carolyn (Fall 2017). "Our Time Is Now". Equality: 7 – via ISSUU.
  18. "State's only transgender elected official recognized by LGBTQ rights group".
  19. Joshua Sharpe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Doraville woman becomes Georgia's only transgender elected official". ajc. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  20. 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)


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