“It sends a real message in a time when we are seeing attacks legislatively and through violence against the LGBTQ+ community that the majority of people reject that kind of animus,” Rob Hill, state director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Mississippi chapter, said in an interview after Nelson’s victory. “I think a lot of youth around the state who have felt like their leaders are rejecting them or targeting them won’t feel as lonely today.”
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Nelson’s victory comes on the heels of a historic wave of restrictions passed by Republican-controlled legislatures targeting the rights of transgender people. LGBTQ advocates say they’ve seen a record number of measures aimed at their community in 2023. In February, Mississippi enacted a ban on gender-affirming hormones or surgery for anyone in the state younger than 18.