Stephanie Byers
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Comment: She is not actually an officeholder as of today, but merely a candidate in an election that's still three months away. Even if she's considered "favored" to win because her district normally leans toward her party, that's still not the same thing as actually winning -- she still has to defeat a Republican challenger first, and as of right now is neither a sitting member of the state house, nor automatically notable just for being a candidate per se. Bearcat (talk) 19:50, 6 August 2020 (UTC)
Stephanie Byers | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 86th district | |
| Assumed office 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Ward |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lori Haas[1] |
| Education | Oklahoma Christian University (BM) Kansas State University (MM) |
Stephanie Byers (born c.1963/1964) is an American politician. She was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives from the 86th district in the 2020 general election. She will be the first indigenous transgender state legislator in the country.
Early life
A member of the Chickasaw Nation, Byers was born in Oklahoma.[1][2] Byers graduated from Oklahoma Christian University with a Bachelor of Music Education in 1986 and later Kansas State University with a Master of Music in 2015.[3]
Career
Byers taught at Wichita North High School for twenty-nine years before retiring in 2019. In 2018, she was given the National Educator of the Year award by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.[4][3][5] From 2018 to 2020, she served on the board of Wichita pride and during her tenure she served as the Communications Director and Board Secretary.[2]
Kansas House of Representatives
In 2019, Byers announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination for the Kansas House of Representatives from the 86th district to succeed Jim Ward, who was seeking election to the Kansas Senate.[6] On August 3, 2020, she won the Democratic nomination.[5]
Personal life
Byers came out as transgender in 2014.
References
- ^ a b "Kansas High School Students Defend Transgender Band Director Against Hate Group". May 6, 2018. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
- ^ a b "Stephanie Byers – Kansas House of Representatives, 86th District". Kansas Equality Coalition. July 30, 2020. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
- ^ a b "About Stephanie Byers". Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
- ^ "Transgender Wichita teacher wins national education award". April 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
- ^ a b "Kansas could elect its first openly transgender lawmaker this fall". The New York Times. August 5, 2020. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
- ^ "Retired teacher wants to be first transgender lawmaker in Kansas House". KAKE (TV). December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.