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Photo courtesy ProjectQAtlanta.com
KARLA DRENNER
The year 2000 doesn’t seem that long ago but 10 years is a lifetime in LGBT equality years. It was four years before an overwhelming majority of our fellow Georgia citizens voted against marriage equality. It was nine years before the Eagle raid.
That’s why it’s even more historic when you consider that 2000 was the year Karla Drenner became the first openly gay member of the Georgia General Assembly. The Avondale Estates resident defeated a four-term incumbent in the primary election on the way to her spot as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Drenner faced some early challenges to her seat but held steady and is now preparing to run for her sixth term.
She’s clicked with fellow openly gay House member Simone Bell, cheering and giving each other high-fives on the good days, sharing in the disappointment on the bad days. But while she remains a vital gay voice in the State House, she’s also well-known as a champion for Georgia’s environment, drawing on her experience in the environmental health and safety industry. And she passes that knowledge on as an adjunct professor of environmental science at Devry University.
The devoted mother and published author (One: The True Story of Politics, Prayer and the Power of One) marched in this year’s Pride parade and was one of the “Legislative 40” group of grand marshals.
She looks poised to nab that sixth consecutive term in the Georgia House, keeping a vital and active presence alive in one of the highest offices in the state.
