Meet the Democrat poised to become Georgia’s first transgender state lawmaker

When Bentley Hudgins talks about democracy, they rarely begin with ideology.They talk about brown water running from neighborhood taps. About losing housing after an apartment complex changed ownership. About sleeping in a 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup truck during a brutal Georgia summer. About being disbelieved by doctors for years before finally receiving treatment that restored their hearing.And they talk about the exhaustion of watching politicians spend years targeting transgender people while basic problems remain unsolved.Now, after winning a Democratic primary in one of Georgia’s safest blue legislative districts, Hudgins is positioned to become the first out transgender lawmaker elected in Georgia history and among the first openly trans and nonbinary state legislators in the Deep South.“It sends a clear message when the strongest Democratic district in the Georgia General Assembly says, ‘We want this person who is a member of these different communities who is also qualified to represent us in the State House,’” Hudgins told The Advocate during an interview days after their primary victory.The result was decisive.Hudgins captured roughly 66 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary for Georgia House District 90, defeating Leisa Stafford by more than 32 percent in a district that stretches across heavily Democratic portions of DeKalb County, including neighborhoods east and southeast of Atlanta long associated with progressive activism and civic engagement.The district is among the safest Democratic seats in the state. Based on recent election performance, political analysts rate it overwhelmingly blue, making Hudgins the heavy favorite heading into the November general election against Republican nominee Samantha Boston.In practical political terms, many Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates already speak about Hudgins as an incoming legislator.That possibility carries symbolic force far beyond Georgia.At a moment when transgender Americans have become