A transgender Republican politician spoke Thursday night on how her political affiliation and life experience intersected in her political career.
Lauren Scott spoke at the Institute of Black Culture about her political advocacy for LGBTQ+ social issues in her “Intersecting Politics” talk for Pride Student Union’s Pride Awareness Month, co-sponsored by the UF College Republicans. Scott began with the history of transgender people in the U.S. and the movement’s progression.
She said she transitioned while in Florida and moved to Nevada to avoid being identified as just a transgender person. What she found in Nevada, however, was a lack of regulations to protect transgender people from discrimination.
Scott recruited a group of LGBTQ+ friends in response and lobbied against legislation restricting rights. As a result, Senate Bill 283, which restricted domestic partners in Nevada, was vetoed.
Scott said she faced discrimination when looking for housing in Nevada, but she found personal triumph in lobbying for another piece of legislature — Senate Bill 368 — which prohibits discrimination in the housing sector.
“If anyone has a housing problem who’s LGBT, I will take care of it,” said Scott, who heads the Nevada Equal Rights Commission.
Misha Lüchau, a UF political science and public relations junior, said she thought the talk was eye-opening and that she discovered a different sector of the Republican Party she can agree with.
“(Scott) made me hopeful that (one day) we can agree on human rights and look to different issues and contestations,” Lüchau, 21, said.
