HomeAbstract of 7th-icgssWhen QTPOC Run, QTPOC Win: Intersectional Ambition and the Fight for State Legislative Power in America

When QTPOC Run, QTPOC Win: Intersectional Ambition and the Fight for State Legislative Power in America

  • Jun 18, 2026
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Abstract Book of the 7th International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality

Year: 2026

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When QTPOC Run, QTPOC Win: Intersectional Ambition and the Fight for State Legislative Power in America

Zachary Baum

ABSTRACT:

Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) are among the most marginalized communities in the United States and heavily excluded from elected office. Despite growing visibility and population growth, particularly among Generations Z and Alpha, only eleven QTPOC currently serve in state legislatures nationwide. The main question explored is: what systemic barriers limit descriptive representation of Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) in State Legislatures in the United States? This paper examines the structural, institutional, socioeconomic, political, and cultural barriers that constrain QTPOC descriptive representation in state-level elected contexts. Drawing on data from the LGBTQ Victory Institute, and the U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS), I conduct a quantitative media content analysis and qualitative analysis of campaign coverage, identify current levels of QTPOC representational disparity, explore party recruitment patterns, and examine the fundraising gap. Using three case studies of randomly selected QTPOC candidates for state legislative office from 1992 to 2024, I expect this analysis will demonstrate that QTPOC candidates confront intersecting systems of exclusion—limited socioeconomic capital, racialized and cisnormative gatekeeping in party networks, hostile electoral conditions, and biased media framing—that collectively diminish political efficacy and opportunity while maintaining deeply embedded systems of oppression. Integrating theories of intersectionality, procedural representation, and group consciousness, this study situates QTPOC within the broader race and ethnic politics literature to illustrate how descriptive representation remains structurally unattainable and out of reach for QTPOC, who face “triple oppression”.

Keywords: LGBTQIA, Intersectionality, Descriptive Representation, American Politics, State Legislatures