History was made in Congress this past week with Laphonza Butler being established into Congress. Butler is the newly appointed U.S. Senator of California and is the first-ever openly Black Lesbian to serve in Congress. This came with hard work and sacrifice on not only her part but with the loss of Dianne Feinstein, a long-time Congress member. It is impossible not to mention Feinstein when discussing the LGBTQ+ community and rights, and her efforts deserve an honorable mention.
Dianne Feinstein was a member of the Democratic Party and served in Congress for over 30 years, from 1992 to her passing in 2023. She was a lifelong LGBT and Queer Ally who spent her entire life and time in Congress loving, supporting, and being a center of the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
May She Rest In Peace.
The newly inducted Senator Laphona Butler is 44 years old. She was born in Magnolia, Mississippi and her career began as a Labor Organizer for nurses in Baltimore and Milwaukee, the janitors in Pennsylvania, and the hospital workers in New Haven. She is the president of EMILY’s List, an organization that is a resource for women in politics, and leads the organization’s efforts to elect Democratic pro-choice women across the county, up and down the ballot. Butler is also currently married to her wife, and they share one daughter.
Senator Butler's establishment as Senator and a new Congress member is a pillar for many communities on a social, racial, and economic level. We can only wonder what change she will bring next.
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