Louisville, Kentucky is starting Women’s History month off right. On Tuesday, Democrat and activist Keturah Herron became the first-ever openly LGBTQ member to be elected to the Kentucky state House of Representatives.
Herron will now represent Kentucky House District 42 with three primary responsibilities: make laws, serve as a representative assembly, and oversee the administration of public policy. Herron's House duties will then be shared with the Senate and with the president of the United States.
All bills passed by the Kentucky House of Representatives require the concurrence of the Senate and the signature of the president (or an override of the president's veto by both houses) before becoming law, according to We The People.
During initiation, Herron and Republican Judy Martin Stallard were both battling the seat, which came about after the current Rep. Reginald Meeks (D) announced his retirement. Voters had until 6 p.m. across the district before the official tally. In all, 1,950 votes were for Herron, 119 votes for Stallard and one write-in vote.
Herron told WDRB that she looks forward to working with District 42.
“Thank you to everyone who helped make history in Kentucky tonight.…I'm very honored to be able to stand here. I think that the people of District 42 have spoken and I look forward to working with the people in District 42 and getting things done in Frankfort…”
Before becoming a Kentucky House of Representative, voters took a huge initiative to Herron's impact to public laws as a former policy strategist at the ACLU of Kentucky. Her efforts at ACLU resulted in the passing of the General Assembly's Senate Bill 4 and “Breonna's Law”, a bill founded after Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed by Louisville police in 2020.
The Hill stated that the bill limits the use of no-knock search warrants across Kentucky, including the city of Louisville.
”I identify as a Black, queer, masculine-presenting woman who has been directly impacted by the criminal legal system…I really believe that it’s all of those different identities that makes me qualified and makes me allowed to stand in space and advocate and write policies for things I know will help our community…," said Herron to LGBTQ Nation during her run for office.
Keturah Herron is now the third Black woman serving in the General Assembly and the first openly LGBTQ member of the Kentucky House. Things are changing for the better, with one vote at a time.
