This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
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.”
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Perez 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 for being trans, and when that happened, I kind of like disassociated for a bit,” Perez said. “I retreated, but like after a while, after going to therapy for a little bit, I told myself, I've always been an advocate for many issues. I felt like this is a moment where I can advocate for myself. So that kind of pushed me to run for office.”
When Perez ultimately decided to run for the Soil and Water Board, she approached the race like a legislative campaign, working with political allies to secure endorsements and rally community groups.
The victory on Tuesday impressed many LGBTQ+ advocates.
“In a state whose right wing politicians have built their brands by trying to bully transgender people out of public life, Quinnie Perez’s election is a defiant declaration that we deserve better. She shattered a ceiling and is paving the way for other transgender leaders to continue to rise,” said Stratton Pollitzer, executive director of Equality Florida, the state’s most influential LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
“For far too long, transgender Floridians, immigrant families, and other underserved and overlooked communities have been demonized and smeared while their perspectives were erased. This is about more than just breaking barriers. Quinnie’s election is part of writing a new chapter in Florida: one where our leadership reflects the people they serve and our communities are squarely at the table.”
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Jeremy Rodriguez, a political consultant based in Orlando, said the victory was important to the state.
“Florida just made history with Quinnie Perez, our first openly trans elected official,” Rodriguez said. “We showed up, knocked doors, listen to the voters and proved that when we lead with love, all of America wins.”
But Perez said her identity was never a major campaign issue. While there was some harassment, she said being transgender rarely came up in conversations with voters.
“If there was any moments where there may have been, like, some kind of awkwardness or people staring, what I would always do is introduce myself,” Perez said. “I'm someone who would directly approach somebody just to kind of break the ice, and I would always just focus on policy. Typically, that topic never came up, and whenever I was speaking to voters who at early voting locations who said had supported me, they said that they voted on me based on my merit, my experience, my endorsements.”
Smith said Perez’s victory would nevertheless mark an important moment in the state’s LGBTQ+ history.
“We also celebrate her distinction as Florida’s first openly transgender elected leader,” Smith said. “Whether she knows it or not, Quinnie has already become a positive role model for young people who will now imagine themselves in future leadership roles thanks to her. I couldn’t be more proud!”
Now, Perez hopes her victory shows gender identity doesn’t have to be a roadblock to success.
“I really hope that it shows that, like, anyone can do it,” she said.
