KENTUCKY — On this week’s program, we’re discussing Pride Month here in the Commonwealth, which is an annual celebration in June that honors the LGBTQIA plus community, their history and their ongoing fight for equality.

Nov. 2024Lexington-Fayette Urban County council member Emma Curtis joins this “In Focus Kentucky” segment. With her election to Lexington’s 4th council district in November 2024, Curtis became the first transgender person to be elected to a city council seat in Kentucky. And her win also made her the second transgender person to hold public office in the Commonwealth.

“When I think about pride month, I think about the way things were here in Kentucky when I was growing up, which was that I was taught a narrative that in order to be queer or trans or a member of the LGBTQ community, you had to be in New York or Los Angeles or in Europe or just somewhere else in general, that being LGBTQ was something that people elsewhere did, not something that people here in Kentucky just are. And I think we’ve come a long way from that. I think now we are seeing LGBTQ folks as we are, which is just as neighbors, as friends and family members, as part of the greater fabric that makes this Commonwealth so great. And so when I think of pride month now in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I think about celebrating where we’ve been, where we are, and looking ahead to where we’re going,” she said. 

Separate of her work in merged-government in Fayette County, Curtis also is an independent filmmaker, LGBTQ+ advocate and has worked extensively to shape public policy alongside organizations such as the ACLU of Kentucky, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Fairness Campaign. She is a member of the Kentucky Women’s Network and the Emerge KY Advisory Board.

“Well, there’s always more work to be done, but I do think that we are on the right track. If you look historically at what happens in Lexington when we have welcomed people from all walks of life, this isn’t just the LGBTQ community. We’re talking about immigrants. We’re talking about people of color. We’re talking about people from all socioeconomic statuses, we are a beacon in central Kentucky where, if people don’t feel like they are safe, welcome, or that they can thrive in their home, they can come and find a home in Lexington and have a home with us. So when we talk about what can Lexington be doing better, I think that we’re always looking for avenues to pursue that. Now, of course, we’re limited because we’re a local government, but I think that if you are a member of a community and you’re feeling ostracized or cast out simply for being who you are, coming from the background that you do, you won’t find anybody in the city of Lexington government that is going to say you don’t belong here, because Lexington is for everyone,” adds Curtis.

You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.