Estefania Cortes-Vargas
Estefania Cortes-Vargas MLA | |
---|---|
Cortes-Vargas in 2015 | |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Strathcona-Sherwood Park | |
Assumed office May 5, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Dave Quest |
Personal details | |
Born |
1990/1991 (age 27–28) Colombia |
Political party | Alberta New Democratic Party |
Occupation | Educational assistant |
Estefania Cortes-Vargas (born 1991) is a Colombian-born Canadian politician who was elected in the Alberta general election, 2015 to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electoral district of Strathcona-Sherwood Park as a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party.[1] Upon election they became one of the first three out LGBT people elected to the Alberta legislature, alongside caucus colleagues Michael Connolly and Ricardo Miranda.[2]
Although Cortes-Vargas was represented in media coverage during the election campaign as female and lesbian,[2] in December 2015 they formally came out as non-binary in the legislature during debate on the inclusion of transgender rights in the provincial human rights code.[3] While the provincial Hansard normally reports members' speeches under the gender honorifics "Mr." or "Ms.", Cortes-Vargas is recorded as "Member Cortes-Vargas".[3]
Electoral history
2015 general election
Alberta general election, 2015: Strathcona-Sherwood Park | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
New Democratic | Estefania Cortes-Vargas | 9,376 | 42.61 | +34.10 | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Dave Quest | 6,623 | 30.10 | -20.61 | ||||
Wildrose | Rob Johnson | 5,286 | 24.02 | -9.62 | ||||
Alberta Party | Lynne Kaiser | 721 | 3.28 | |||||
Total valid votes | 22,006 | |||||||
Rejected, spoiled, and declined | 110 | |||||||
Registered electors / Turnout | 34,346 | 64.39 | +4.51 | |||||
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +27.36 | ||||||
Source(s) |
References
- ↑ "Alberta Election 2015: NDP’s Estefania Cortes-Vargas wins Strathcona-Sherwood Park riding". Global News, May 5, 2015.
- 1 2 "NDP candidate supports education". Sherwood Park News, April 30, 2015.
- 1 2 "An Alberta MLA on battling gender identity". Maclean's, December 1, 2015.