This is a list of openly transgender, intersex, and nonbinary officeholders by office in the United States. The first openly trans public officeholder in the United States was Joanne Conte, elected to Arvada, Colorado's City Council in 1991.
As of January 2025, the highest-ranking public official is Sarah McBride, who represents Delaware's at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The highest ranking appointed official was Rachel Levine, who was an Assistant Secretary for Health from 2021 to 2024.
This list is arranged chronologically by politicians' first years in each office. Some officeholders listed were not elected while out as trans, and either came out or were outed at a later date.
Background , 77 trans, non-binary, intersex, and genderqueer officials served in public elected positions. This represented a nearly fivefold increase from 2018, when only 16 openly trans individuals had been elected to office in the United States. On November 7, 2017, eight trans individuals were elected to public office. This is the most trans individuals elected to office in a single day.
Federal offices Federal executive +NameOffice(s)StartEndPresident(s)NotesSpecial Assistant to Assistant Secretary of LaborDecember 7, 2009June 12, 2015(2009–2017)Orr is the first openly trans person to be appointed in a presidential administration.-
- Senior Technical Advisor to the Bureau of Industry and SecurityFirst Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational EnergyDecember 29, 2009January 19, 2017Simpson is the first openly trans woman to be appointed in a presidential administration. She is also the first openly trans person to lead a United States Department of Defense organization.Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for HealthMarch 26, 2021January 20, 2025(2021–2025)Levine is the first openly trans person to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation. She was the highest-ranking openly trans official in the US and the first openly trans four-star admiral.Assistant Secretary of Defense for ReadinessActing Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and ReadinessJuly 22, 2021January 20, 2025(2021–2025)
Federal legislative +NamePartyStateOffice(s)StartEndNotesDemocraticDelawareMember of the U.S. House of Representatives for Delaware's at-large congressional district2025presentMcBride is the first openly trans person to be elected to the United States Congress. Previously, McBride served in the Delaware State Senate; in 2020, she was the first trans person elected to any state's upper house.
State offices State executive +NamePartyStateOffice(s)StartEndNotesDemocraticHawaiiHawaii Board of Education20062011Iwamoto was the first trans person elected to statewide office in Hawaii, before the board moved to being appointed at the end of her final term.RepublicanNevadaCommissioner, Nevada Equal Rights Commission20122016Appointed position. Scott was also the first openly trans person to win a Republican primary election for a state legislative office, running for the Nevada Assembly's 30th District in 2014.
State legislative +NamePartyStateOffice(s)StartEndNotesRepublicanMassachusettsMassachusetts House of Representatives, 5th Suffolk district19931995Garrison is the first trans person to serve in a state legislature, but she was not openly trans when first elected in 1992. She was later outed while in office. Garrison later served in the Boston City Council by appointment to fill a vacancy in 2018.DemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives, Ward 42012ElectThough Laughton was the first openly trans person elected to a state legislature in 2012, she was forced to resign prior to inauguration after past felonies became public.New Hampshire House of Representatives, District 3120202022She ran again and won in 2020, and won her reelection in 2022, but she ultimately resigned in December 2022 after being arrested for stalking. She has since been arrested again, this time for felony distribution of child sexual abuse images.DemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives, 11th Merrimack district (formerly 22nd Merrimack)20122024Came out as trans after her 2022 re-election.DemocraticVirginiaVirginia House of Delegates, 13th district20182024First openly trans person to be elected and served in a state legislature in 2017; first trans state senator elected in the Southern United States in 2023; first openly trans person to serve in both houses of a state legislature in 2024.Virginia Senate, 30th district2024presentDemocraticColoradoColorado House of Representatives, 27th district2019presentDemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives, Strafford 18th district (now 12th district)20182024"Two transgender women elected to N.H. House" . Washington Blade, November 7, 2018.DemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives, Rockingham 18th District20182022DemocraticDelawareDelaware Senate20212025First trans member of a state Senate, elected in November 2020.DemocraticKansasKansas House of Representatives, 86th district20212023The first openly trans woman of colorAlthea Garrison, though she was elected in 1992 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was not openly trans when elected. to serve in and to be elected to a state legislature and the first Native American trans person to hold elected office in the United States.DemocraticProgressiveVermontVermont House of Representatives, Chittenden 6–7 district (now Chittenden-21)20212025DemocraticOklahomaOklahoma State House of Representatives, district 8820212025The first non-binary state legislator. While in office, Turner was the only trans state legislator of color.DemocraticMontanaMontana House of Representatives, district 952023presentShe is the first openly trans elected official in the Montana Legislature.DemocraticMinnesotaMinnesota House of Representatives, District 66A2023presentShe is the first openly trans elected official in the Minnesota Legislature.DemocraticMinnesotaMinnesota House of Representatives, District 8B2023presentKozlowski was the first openly nonbinary representative in the Minnesota Legislature, first elected in 2022. As of 2026, they are the only two-spirit legislator in the U.S.DemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives, 22nd Merrimack2023presentHe is the first trans man elected to a state legislature.DemocraticMontanaMontana House of Representatives, District 1002023presentBecame the first nonbinary state legislator in Montana when they were elected.DemocraticMinnesotaMinnesota House of Representatives, District 36B2023presentCurran came out as nonbinary between their 2022 and 2024 elections.DemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives, 15th Strafford2024presentDemocraticIowaIowa House of Representatives, District 802025presentThe first trans person to serve in the Iowa legislature.DemocraticHawaiiHawaii House of Representatives, District 252025present-DemocraticNew HampshireNew Hampshire House of Representatives2025presentDemocraticMissouriMissouri House of Representatives, District 192025presentThe first out nonbinary person elected to state office in Missouri.DemocraticKansasKansas House of Representatives, District 862026present
State judicial +NamePartyStateOffice(s)StartEndNotesDemocraticCaliforniaAlameda County Superior Court Judge2011presentConsidered the first trans person elected as a judge.
Local offices Local executive +NamePartyStateOffice(s)StartEndNotesDemocraticOregonMayor of Silverton20092015First trans mayor in the United States. She had served as mayor of Silverton, Oregon in the 1990s, before coming out as trans. She was also three times a member of the city council.IndependentTexasMayor of New Hope20162018Herbst became the first openly trans mayor in Texas in 2016 when the then-mayor died days before the election, but still won. Herbst, who was Mayor pro-tem, was then appointed to the position. She came out as trans after being appointed to the office.DemocraticNew JerseyMayor of Flemington20192023She is the first openly intersex person elected mayor in the United States. Also was the first intersex person elected to any political office when elected to town council in 2017.DemocraticCaliforniaMayor of Palm Springs20212022IndependentCaliforniaMayor of Calexico20232024Ureña was elected in 2020 to Calexico's City Council, whose members hold rotating terms as mayor. After she came out as trans, critics launched a recall campaign against her, which succeeded in removing her from her seat.DemocraticPennsylvaniaMayor of Downingtown2025presentDeuso became Pennsylvania's first openly trans mayor when she was elected in November 2025.
Local legislative