Stephe Koontz officially became Georgia’s only transgender elected official on Friday night when she was sworn in as a Doraville City Council member.
Koontz won the District 3 seat on the council by just six votes in November.
She likes to stick to the issues of local government, but she is proud of the ground she’s breaking. She said she was inundated with support after the victory and was pleased some seemed to see her as a role model for trans youth.
On Monday, Koontz was at the first day of the General Assembly’s session on behalf of Doraville for a meeting on affordable housing.
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“I'm excited to be out making connections with regional representatives,” she said.
Another new council person sworn in Friday was Joseph Geierman, who, according to Project Q, is gay and a longtime local activist.
Koontz is believed to be the second trans person elected to office in Georiga.
Michelle Bruce was sued over her candidacy for the Riverdale City Council in 2007. The trans woman had first been elected unopposed in 2003, but an opponent to her re-election filed the suit, claiming she had misled voters about her identity, though other officials said it was well-known around town that Bruce was transgender.
The Georgia Supreme Court eventually sided with Bruce, but she had already lost the election.
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