Meet Keturah Herron, The First Openly LGBTQ+ Member Of The Kentucky Senate

Kentucky’s political landscape shifted in January when Keturah Herron raised her right hand and became the state’s first openly LGBTQ+ state senator. Her oath was more than pageantry; it jolted a legislature that rarely mirrors the lives of LGBTQ+ people—especially those of color—into a new era of representation.

Herron’s road to the Senate was paved in Louisville’s streets and committee rooms, not in party backrooms. As a policy maker for the ACLU of Kentucky, she helped craft and lobby for “Breonna’s Law,” the ordinance that outlawed “no‑knock” warrants in Louisville after Breonna Taylor’s killing. It was after this accomplishment that she started to get asked about running for state senate. That ground‑level work translated into electoral momentum in 2022 when voters in House District 42 sent her to Frankfort as the General Assembly’s first out LGBTQ+ member, launching a legislative résumé defined by juvenile‑justice reform, police accountability, and eviction diversion.

Related: Women We Love 2022: Keturah Herron

After three years of Kentucky’s general assembly meetings, an impeccable track record, and a bold campaign that embraced her identity, she won facing no opponents (an unspoken acknowledgement of her power and the movement behind her) and was sworn in on January 1st.  

Now, with Republicans holding a super‑majority, she has crafted a 2025 agenda anchored by three pillars: a statewide ban on no‑knock warrants, Medicaid‑funded doula care, and a comprehensive nondiscrimination act that would finally protect LGBTQ+ Kentuckians in housing, employment, and public life. These bills will face tough votes, but Herron’s strategy of talking with all sides, taking steady steps, and backing each proposal with solid data shows she prefers real progress over empty gestures.

Herron’s swearing‑in didn’t close Kentucky’s representation gap, yet it cracks a ceiling that generations of queer women have looked closely at before. Her success will be tallied by roll‑call votes, yes, but also by the young Kentuckians who look up at the roster and realize the statehouse might be a place for them, too. For LGBTQ+ feminists, Herron’s rise isn’t just a reflection; it’s a roadmap proving the power we were told was off limits is now ours to claim.