Deja Alvarez also running for Brian Sims’ Seat

Executive Director of PhillyGayCalendar

From the PGN

LGBTQ community leader Deja Alvarez has announced a run for state representative of the 182nd district. Alvarez is the director of community engagement at World Healthcare Infrastructures and chairperson of the Philadelphia Police LGBT Liaison Committee. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she founded a food program for undocumented immigrant families and other food insecure individuals. 

The 182nd district serves a large section of Center City, including the Gayborhood and Rittenhouse Square, as well as parts of Fairmount, Queen Village, Hawthorne, and Logan Square. The seat is currently held by Rep. Brian Sims, who is running for Lieutenant Governor. Alvarez is the second LGBTQ person to announce a run for the seat. If elected, she would be the first trans person to serve in the state legislature.

“I have a lived experience that is very different from most in the capital. I think that’s important. I want people that come from every background, every story, every corner of the city, to be able to look at me and say ‘hey, she came from where she came from, she’s part of multiple marginalized communities, and now here she is running for office. And if she can do it, I can do it.’ I think that’s important for me, for other people to be able to see a little bit of themselves in me on some level.”
Deja Alvarez
Running for state representative of the 182nd district

UPDATE: 5/3/2021

Brian Sims, the current representative, endorses Deja Alvarez

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