Only two states in the nation, Louisiana and Mississippi, have never elected an openly L.G.B.T.Q. lawmaker.<\/p>\n
Now, there will be only one.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Fabian Nelson won a Democratic primary runoff in Mississippi\u2019s 66th state House district, southwest of Jackson, where Republicans have no candidate on the ballot.<\/p>\n
Mr. Nelson, 38, was raised in the Mississippi Delta by politically active parents. And while he said he believed having a gay man in the State Legislature was significant, the historic nature of his campaign was never his focus.<\/p>\n
When he campaigned in South Jackson, he talked about the city\u2019s water crisis and about crime. When he campaigned in rural areas, he talked about broadband access and economic development.<\/p>\n
The New York Times spoke with Mr. Nelson after his victory. The interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n
Q. Tell me about yourself \u2014 your background, your family, what made you decide to run for office.<\/strong><\/p>\n A. <\/strong>I come from a very politically motivated family. My father is a leader in the community, and he worked with a lot of our elected officials.<\/p>\n I remember going to the voting precinct with my mom any time she voted. I saw my parents every single day fighting to help people in the community, whether it was helping people pay their rent, helping people pay their light bills, donating food, donating clothes.<\/p>\n When I was in fourth grade, we went to the Mississippi State Capitol, and I remember walking in the galley to look at the floor of the House. I saw these guys in suits and these big, old high-backed chairs. I remember looking down, and I told my teacher, \u201cOne of these days I am going to sit down there.\u201d<\/p>\n Q. This is your second time running for this seat. What was different this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n A.<\/strong> The first time, I ran in a special election, so I had about a month. I\u2019ve done work in the community, but I\u2019ve mostly done work behind the scenes, so a lot of people didn\u2019t know who I was. Then the special election was right when Covid hit. We really couldn\u2019t get out there, knock on doors, meet people \u2014 I wasn\u2019t able to do anything other than social media and put signs up.<\/p>\n I said this time I\u2019m going to make sure I do every single thing to get in front of every single person that I possibly can get in front of. I\u2019m going to become a household name. That\u2019s not going to guarantee that people are going to vote for me, but everybody in this district is going to know who Fabian Nelson is.<\/p>\n We knocked on everybody\u2019s door five times. The first two times I went around, I was just introducing myself. The third time, that\u2019s when I sat down and developed a platform.<\/p>\n Q. Mississippi is one of only two states that have never elected an openly L.G.B.T.Q. legislator. Did you know that when you started your campaign?<\/strong><\/p>\n A. <\/strong>Honestly, I thought Mississippi was the only one. I didn\u2019t know that it was Mississippi and Louisiana. Mississippi, we\u2019re always the last to do the right thing. I said, So we\u2019ve got to beat Louisiana this time so we won\u2019t be No. 50. Now I\u2019m happy to say we\u2019re No. 49.<\/p>\n Q. What does it mean to you to be the first in Mississippi?<\/strong><\/p>\n A. <\/strong>I have talked to so many people that say: \u201cWe are now hopeful. We feel like we\u2019re in a new place.\u201d<\/p>\n What I want people to understand is Mississippi now has somebody that\u2019s going to fight for every single person. I\u2019m going to fight for people in District 66 \u2014 those are the people I represent. The issues I\u2019m going to fight for are my platform issues. However, when anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation comes up, which I know it will, I am going to fight that every single day.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not only going to the Capitol to fight against anti-L.G.B.T.Q. bills. But we cannot have any group discriminated against. It\u2019s OK to disagree with a person, it\u2019s OK to disagree with a person\u2019s lifestyle, but it is not OK to impose on that person\u2019s civil liberties and civil rights. If we look back in our African American community, slavery was pushed because it\u2019s in the Bible. That\u2019s what was used to keep my people oppressed. And so there\u2019s no room for oppression of any group of people.<\/p>\n Q. Politically, this is such a complicated time in that there\u2019s this flood of anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation, and at the same time we\u2019re seeing increased representation in government and public life. How do you navigate that?<\/strong><\/p>\n A. <\/strong>You\u2019ve heard the saying that when you don\u2019t have a seat at the table, you\u2019re what\u2019s for lunch. We\u2019ve been for lunch for so long. The thing is, our politicians can come out and stand on the steps of the Capitol and say, \u201cOh, we love the community, we\u2019re going to do everything we can to help you, we\u2019re going to fight for you, love, love, love,\u201d then go in the Capitol and close the door \u2014 you don\u2019t know what they\u2019re saying. And then the next thing you know, we\u2019ve got a harmful piece of legislation coming out.<\/p>\n Now that they have someone sitting at the table, they\u2019re not going to be able to continue along that path. It makes it so much harder. Once we started getting African Americans elected into office, that\u2019s when we started to see things change, because you can\u2019t sit in the Capitol and have the same conversations you were having before we were at the table.<\/p>\n Q. Did this come up when you were campaigning? Was it something you talked to people about?<\/strong><\/p>\n A. <\/strong>My campaign was strictly focused on the issues of District 66, because at the end of the day, I represent District 66, and I represent the issues that are germane to District 66. My platform wasn\u2019t, \u201cI\u2019m the first openly gay guy,\u201d because that doesn\u2019t help anybody. It doesn\u2019t make me a better lawmaker or a worse lawmaker. People voted on someone who had experience, people voted on someone who\u2019s going to make a positive impact within our community, and people voted for a fighter.<\/p>\n But I come from a family of firsts \u2014 my grandmother being the first African American nurse [at a hospital in Yazoo City, Miss.], my dad being one of the first African Americans to graduate dental school from Virginia Commonwealth University.<\/p>\n And so I said, I have to raise the bar some type of way. My children are going to have to really raise the bar.<\/p>\n