WeHo Opens Historic Vote Center For Transgender, Nonbinary Voters

The nation’s first ever vote center in a transgender support space will open in West Hollywood on Saturday.

All voters in Los Angeles County can cast their ballots at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center through primary election day on Tuesday, March 5. But the transgender and nonbinary community is invited to do their civic duty and make their voices heard.

“By providing a safe and affirming space for the transgender community to exercise their fundamental right to vote, we are breaking down barriers and ensuring every Californian has equal access to the ballot box,” Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis said at a news conference Thursday.

Why now?

Queen Chela Demuir, the founder of the Unique Woman’s Coalition and the international vice president of FLUX, told LAist that it's important for all Americans to have an opportunity to cast their vote in a place where they feel free and comforted.

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“In a time when our trans and nonbinary siblings are having to face elements of erasure with legislation, it's important that we speak up,” she said. “It's important for us to go to the polls, go to the voting places, and cast those votes against those legislations that want to bind us, and prevent us from being who we are.”

More than 500 anti-trans bills have been introduced across 41 states this year alone, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker.

Why this space?

Demuir noted that some people may not be able to update their identification records, which can cause discomfort and anxiety when they go to cast their ballots.

Many may choose to mail them in instead, which she said can make people feel like they’re missing part of the energy and excitement that comes along with voting.

The Connie Norman Center will be hosting a special Super Tuesday celebration from noon to 7 p.m. for the public.

Looking ahead 

Demuir said she wants the new vote center to inspire other transgender and nonbinary spaces across the country to follow in their footsteps.

“I'm a firm believer in, if you could see it, then you can achieve it,” she said. “I think that every generation should always move the needle, move the marker, beyond where it was.”

The center is named after the late Connie Norman, nicknamed the “AIDS Diva,” who moved the needle in her own right. Norman was the first gay rights activist to host a daily talk show tackling LGBTQ+ issues, racism, and poverty on an L.A. area commercial station in the early 1990s.

Norman died in 1996 from complications of AIDS. She was 47.

Decades later, the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center opened in her honor as a project from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, FLUX, and the Unique Woman’s Coalition, as a way to empower the next generation.

Now, Demuir is hoping the center will one day be a place where transgender and nonbinary candidates can cast their vote for the city, county, and the district they’re running to represent.