Meet the weed-growing transgender daughter of immigrants who just made Florida electoral history

A cannabis worker and daughter of immigrants just won election as Florida’s first out transgender elected official.Quinnie Perez, a trans woman, was the top vote-getter in a three-person race for a relatively low-profile post on Orange County’s Soil and Water Conservation District. The race attracted little attention before Tuesday, but Perez’s historic victory brought a flood of media requests Wednesday.“Like, my phone was quiet, and then the next moment, it’s nonstop,” Perez told The Advocate. “Like, my Instagram is barely functional now because I’m just getting fan requests.”Perez will now join a board charged with protecting agricultural resources in Central Florida. The job requires professional experience in farming, something Perez brings from her work for cannabis company Curaleaf. But Perez also grew up in migrant communities, including one near Ocala, Florida, known as Little Mexico.“I’ve always been an advocate for our migrant farm workers because my parents are immigrants who came to this country and are farm workers themselves,” Perez said. “For me, it was a personal and a good opportunity to advocate for my community.”Related: In Ron DeSantis’s Florida, voters just elected the state’s first out transgender womanPerez became involved in local politics about a decade ago, working with political figures including out Florida state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights.“I’ve known Quinnie for many, many years. She worked on several of my campaigns and even interned in our legislative office in the Florida House,” Smith said. “She has deep experience with environmental issues and with the farm worker community, so Quinnie will be a great asset to the Soil and Water Board.”Perez transitioned around 2024, amid an anti-transgender campaign led by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida Republicans.“Two days before the 2024 election, I had actually been assaulted at my gym just fo