Jenkins Makes History Again
Minneapolis City Council member Andrea Jenkins made history on Monday, becoming the first out transgender city council president in American history.
Jenkins was elected unanimously by her fellow council members after holding the council's vice president post. She was the first out Black trans woman elected to public office in the US when she joined the Minneapolis City Council in 2017.5g4g4
“I hope that it serves as inspiration for other trans and gender non-conforming people,” Jenkins told NBC News. “My vision for this council and for the city of Minneapolis is that we come together and begin the really significant work of healing after our city has been rocked by the murder of George Floyd and so many other Black and brown people who have lost their lives at the hands of the state.”
“Sending A Message”
Jenkins rose to national prominence following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Floyd was a resident of Jenkins' district, and the council member immediately brought the brutal actions by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to the fore, calling Floyd's death a “symbol for a knee on the neck of Black America.”
“The whole of Minneapolis will benefit from the leadership that Councilor Jenkins has delivered since she was first elected in 2017,” said JoDee Winterhof, Human Rights Campaign vice president of policy and political affairs, in a statement. “Councilor Jenkins' reputation as a tireless advocate, her dedication to public service and her efficacy in fighting on behalf of those on the margins of society have been recognized and reaffirmed by her peers on the council. We look forward to continuing to work with City Council President Jenkins in the years to come.”
Police accountability in the city remains a key issue for Jenkins as she assumes her new role. She pointed to the prosecution of both Chauvin and former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter, who was convicted for killing Daunte Wright last month, as “sending a message to police officers that, in this community, we are going to hold you accountable.”
Unifying Force
Jenkins says her focus will include affordable housing, rent control and living wages while charged with leading the council following what the Star Tribune called a “divisive election” during which multiple city council members voiced support for replacing the Minneapolis Police Department with a model focused on community safety and violence prevention which did not win with the voting public “We represent a diversity of thought, of ideas and solutions to the most pressing issues of our time,” Jenkins said. “We have a whole lot of work to do.”
“It's no secret that the previous council ended up being very factionalized and she was able to be pretty successful in bringing everybody to the table,” newly elected city council member Elliott Payne told Axios. “I'm going to work toward getting to ‘yes' – not staying mired in respective, abstinent positions,” Jenkins told Axios. “I am going to keep listening, keep talking. I think we can get there. We can bridge those divides.”
She went on. “The attacks on trans and gender non-conforming people are simply a reaction to the fact that this community … is beginning to really make inroads in our society and show up in spaces where we're not expected to be,” she told NBC News. “That's going to continue, we are not going away, we are not retreating into the background and we cannot be written out of public life.”
Andrea Jenkins: Previously on Towleroad
Photo courtesy of Tony Webster/Creative Commons
