At a time when the trans community is under political attack like never before, Dolphin Democrats are embracing a trans woman to help lead them forward. Adrianna Tender, who has been on their board for years, has been named the group’s vice president.
Tender is a strong voice who works to bring progressive minded voters to the polls, and becomes the first Black trans woman to reach these heights in the organization. The board chose her when she was personally nominated by new president, Sabrina Javellana. She was elevated to the role when Todd Delmay resigned to become the executive director at SAVE.
“She’s really wonderful. I love working with her,” Javellana said. “I see her as a sister.”
In addition to her advocacy work with the Dolphin Dems, Tender also sits on the Board of Governors for the Human Rights Campaign and is their co-chairperson for community engagement at HRC South Florida. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Black LGBTQ Liberation, or BLINK.
At the start of the year, Javellana and Tender were the only women on the 11-member board. Javellana is an Asian-American bisexual woman, and wanted another woman of color to join her on the board. She says Tender shares her view on diversity.
“[Tender] is not afraid to call us in and call us out to say we need more diverse voices at the table. She and I have been united in that.”
Democrats took a shellacking in last year’s election, moving Florida from being an allegedly purple state to deep red. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who squeaked by to election in 2018, won by 18 points. Republicans won enough seats in both chambers in Tallahassee to give DeSantis a super majority, and both U.S. Senators are Maga conservatives. All support DeSantis’ anti-woman and anti-LGBTQ agenda.
Next year, first term senator and former governor, Rick Scott is up for reelection and President Biden hopes to take Florida’s electoral votes. Given how badly Democrats did last year, it’s questionable if the national party will spend meaningful time and money in the state in 2024.
