The LGBTQ Victory Fund — the national nonprofit dedicated to electing LGBTQ leaders to public office — has endorsed educator and activist Tiara Mack for Rhode Island State Senate District 6, representing the Providence metro area.
Victory Fund is paying special attention to Mack’s campaign because she’s taking on the incumbent Democrat Senator Harold Metts, who has a record of opposing LGBTQ rights.
Rhode Island’s upcoming state primary will be held on Sept. 8. The mail-in ballot application deadline is next Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Says Victory Fund:
Tiara started her journey in education teaching sex-ed in Providence schools as an undergraduate.
Tiara previously worked in Providence as a recruiter to ensure students have teachers that represent their backgrounds, experiences, and future selves. She now works as a Youth Organizer, empowering young people to engage in local and national social issues. Tiara is a Board Member of Women’s Health and Education Fund (WHEF) and of the East Side/Mt. Hope YMCA.
Before coming to study at Brown University in 2012 from where she grew up in the South, Mack says, “I thought I was different because there was no LGBTQ+ representation in books or my school, but later realized LGBTQ+ voices and identities were silenced.”
As an activist, she says, “I have spent the last four years in the state house fighting for issues and bills that legislators tell us to wait for, like health care access, clean air, fair wages and affordable housing.”
“Although we have fought hard, those in power refuse to push for progress,” she says. “I never felt connected to the people in power who told us to be patient. Patience is not an option. … I think it’s time our representatives fight for everyone. That’s why I stopped waiting and decided to run for state senate.”
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