Human Rights Campaign-Endorsed Mayor Randall Woodfin Wins Re-election In Birmingham

by Wyatt Ronan

The Human Rights Campaign PAC endorsed candidate, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, won re-election.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin won re-election, earning more than 64% of the vote on his way to victory. The Human Rights Campaign PAC — part of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) equality — had endorsed and supported Mayor Woodfin in his re-election bid. As mayor, Woodfin has worked to improve and promote LGBTQ+ equality in Birmingham; during the 2021 Alabama legislative session, Woodfin and the appointed LGBTQ+ Task Force Board opposed anti-transgender legislation.

Mayor Randall Woodfin has an outstanding track record of advancing LGBTQ+ equality, making the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama more fair and just for all during his first term. His leadership has helped make his city a welcoming place, and his work has extended out to other municipalities across Alabama and the South.

Mayor Woodfin's electoral victory in the Deep South is just one more example of an obvious truth: prioritizing LGBTQ+ equality isn't only the moral thing for leaders to do it's also a smart and winning strategy.

The Human Rights Campaign is proud to have supported and worked toward re-electing Mayor Woodfin, ensuring that his vision for progress and equality continues. We are excited to congratulate him on his hard-fought and impressive victory.

Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, Human Rights Campaign Alabama State Director

In 2014, HRC launched Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. HRC Alabama continues to work to advance equality for LGBTQ+ Alabamians who have no state-level protections in housing, workplace or public accommodations.

In 2016, before Woodfin entered the race, Birmingham's Municipal Equality Index (MEI) score was an unacceptable 12%. A non-discrimination ordinance passed during the 2017 runoff increased the city’s score to 77%. Birmingham achieved a perfect 100% score in Woodfin’s first year in office, and the city has received a perfect 100% every year since under his leadership.

In 2018, Woodfin appointed Birmingham's first LGBTQ+ Liaison to facilitate the implementation of the nondiscrimination ordinance and the creation of a Human Rights Commission. Under Woodfin’s mayorship, he promoted inclusive health benefits to all city employees, introducing an insurance plan that explicitly covers transgender healthcare, mental health support, and established anLGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Under Woodfin, Birmingham has worked with other cities across Alabama to improve their equality standards.

In Mayor Woodfin’s first year in office, he made Birmingham one of the first Southeastern cities in the United States to sign the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities and commit to ending the HIV epidemic as a public health crisis addressing the root causes of risk, vulnerability, and transmission. His office has committed to working with AIDS Service Organizations (ASO) in Birmingham to provide support, host training classes, and provide community education.

Mayor Woodfin joined the Mayors Against LGBTQ Discrimination coalition, presented a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month, and joined with more than 140 other mayors, city council members, and municipal leaders to send a letter to Congress calling on members to pass comprehensive LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections at the federal level.

Mayor Woodfin promised to make progress, and when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality, he’s done precisely that. HRC is proud to support Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin as we continue to organize, mobilize, and advocate for his vision of a fairer, more equitable, and inclusive Birmingham.

Paid for by Human Rights Campaign PAC, 1640 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036. Not authorized by any federal candidate or candidate committee.

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