Fabian Nelson

Fabian Nelson is not here to make anyone feel like an underachiever, but a description of his past year may inadvertently elicit such feelings. “I have two accomplishments this year,” he says. “The first one is finalizing the adoption of my son; the second one is fulfilling a lifelong goal of being elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives.”

For a gay Black man living in the South, both life moments are especially impressive — the latter even more so since Nelson made history as the first openly queer person ever elected to public office in Mississippi. Even though he owns and operates a successful real estate firm, he had to embark on an ambitious campaign to educate voters of his credentials as a Mississippi-born professional and philanthropist — the latter of which involved talking about his work with Capital City Pride and numerous HIV organizations.

“Once I started running for office, I had six months to become a household name,” Nelson says. “I accomplished this by being actively involved in my community and knocking on doors in my community.”

Nelson will take office in January, likely to much fanfare, but he’s focused on helping Mississippi’s oft-neglected residents and fulfilling his campaign promises to “fully fund education, push for affordable health care by expanding Medicaid, and influence economic development.” @fabiannelson4housedistrict66