Running on a platform of LGBTQ Youth Safety, fifth-grader Ella Briggs has been elected the 2019 Kid Governor of Connecticut. Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill announced the results last week in a special broadcast live from the statehouse.
More than 6,400 fifth graders from across the state watched Ella’s video, learned about her three-point platform and voted her into a one-year term. Ella will be inaugurated at the Old Statehouse in Hartford in January.
“Something that really made me want to run is when someone came up to me to tell me they were part of the LGBTQ community but they were too afraid to tell anyone,” she told her fellow classmates at a special school assembly gathered to hear the results.
“I felt my heart break for them,” Ella said. “I want to help all the kids who feel like that, to feel free to be who they are.”
Member of the Hartford Gay Men’s Chorus performed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as family members and state and local officials surprised Ella with guest appearances. For her part, Ella delivered a gracious acceptance speech to her cheering classmates, thanking her voters, classmates, teachers and family (including dogs) for their support and encouragement.
Ella’s platform focuses on three platform points to advocate for youth in the LGBTQ community: 1) to promote adoptions for LGBTQ homeless youth, 2) to train teachers on how to work with LGBTQ Youth, and 3) to create youth programs for LGBTQ Youth and their allies.
During her one-year term, Ella will work with the Connecticut Democracy Center to create videos and resources to help kids take civic action by raising awareness about LGBTQ youth safety. The resources will be posted on the Connecticut Kid Governor website.
Kid Governor, the award-winning civics education program created for fifth graders by the Connecticut Public Affairs Network, gives youngsters the opportunity to “create a campaign platform around a community issue they want to see changed, run for office, and vote in an election for their state’s Kid Governor! Kid Governors hold their office for a one year term, giving them time to make a significant impact in their states and communities around the issue they’ve selected,” according to the program’s mission statement.
