Post submitted by Eva Kendrick, former HRC Alabama State Manager

One week after becoming the first city in Alabama to pass an LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, citizens of Birmingham also elected the city’s first publicly pro-equality mayor, HRC-endorsed candidate Randall Woodfin. Woodfin defeated seven-year incumbent, Mayor William Bell, by an 18 percent margin: 59 percent to 41 percent.

Last month, HRC and Equality Alabama were proud toendorse Randall Woodfin as a true ally for the LGBTQ community in city hall. As a candidate, Woodfin’s record and platform were the most pro-LGBTQ of any candidate for mayor. HRC members and supporters volunteered more than 100 hours with the Woodfin campaign, knocking on hundreds of doors and contacting thousands of individual voters through canvassing and phone banking efforts. 

Mayor-elect Woodfin will begin his four-year term as Birmingham’s mayor on November 28 and HRC looks forward to working with him to pursue a city that is more inclusive for all of its citizens. In his first 100 days, the new mayor-elect has committed to appoint an LGBTQ liaison to the Mayor’s office and to continue progress on the city’s new non-discrimination ordinance and Human Rights Commission, passed late last month by the Birmingham City Council.

As a pro-equality candidate, Randall Woodfin’s dramatic October 3 win makes clear that when a candidate stands with our community, LGBTQ persons and our allies are proud to stand with them as well.