Nashville has elected its first openly transgender politician, Olivia Hill. Last week, Hill was elected to the Metro Council, according to reports from Pink News and the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
Hill has become the first openly trans public official elected in all of Tennessee. Hill is not only an award-winning public speaker and activist, but a US Navy veteran. She also made history as the first trans woman to be on a Tennessee ballot.
In recent years, Nashville has increasingly become a blue speck in a vastly red state. The Metro Council in Nashville is the legislative body that oversees the city of Nashville and Davidson County. Presently, the majority of the council members are now women.
Hill has been vocal about her goals to get right to work improving the “broken parts of Nashville,” including public transport, utilities, infrastructure and more.
Hill, 57, grew up in Nashville before joining the US Navy’s engineering division. She has worked as an engineer for 36 years, and has faced a great deal of workplace discrimination at the Vanderbilt University power plant, which led to a lawsuit in 2021. For a time, she served on the board of directors at the Tennessee Pride Chamber, and she continues to serve her community through activism.
“Nashville voters clearly reject the hateful rhetoric that has grown louder in Tennessee politics lately,” President and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Annise Parker, said of Hill’s win. “Olivia’s victory proves that transgender people belong everywhere decisions about them are being made, including local office.”
