Althea Garrison (born October 7, 1940) is an independent American politician from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, who has served on the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no ...

as an

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

councilor. Garrison was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1992 and served one term from 1993 to 1995. Both before and after Garrison's successful bid for office, she has run unsuccessfully in multiple elections for the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

and Boston City Council, as a Republican,

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, or

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, which has resulted in her being described in the media as a "

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

". Garrison is also known as the first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

person to be elected to a state legislature in the United States. She was

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

against her will by the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

'' after her election in 1992. Garrison later served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council from January 2019 to January 2020 due to a vacancy left by

Ayanna Pressley Ayanna Soyini Pressley (born February 3, 1974) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of Ca ...

's election to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. Because Garrison was the next-place finisher in the

2017 Boston City Council election Boston City Council elections were held on November 7, 2017. Nine seats in the Boston City Council (five district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 3, 4, 5, and 6 were ...

, she was eligible to take office per City Council rules. She was not re-elected in November 2019.

Background

Born in

Hahira, Georgia Hahira is a city in northwest Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 2,737 at the 2010 census, up from 1,626 at the 2000 census. Hahira has a mayor-council form of elected govern ...

, as the youngest of seven children, Garrison attended Hahira High School there. Garrison moved to Boston to attend beauty school, but went on to enroll in Newbury Junior College and received an associate degree there. Garrison later received a B.S. degree in administration from

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a l ...

, an M.S. degree in management from

Lesley College Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate). History ...

, and a certificate in special studies in administration and management from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. According to records in the Suffolk County Probate Court, Garrison petitioned for a name change to Althea Garrison in 1976. The petition stated that the name Althea Garrison "is consistent with petitioner's appearance and medical condition and is the name by which he will be known in the future." Besides her one term in the Massachusetts House, Garrison has worked as a clerk in human resources for the Massachusetts state comptroller's office, where she used her vacation time to run for office. She served for four years on the

Metropolitan Area Planning Council Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...

Political career

Early years

In 1982 and 1986, Garrison ran unsuccessfully for the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a Democrat. She ran unsuccessfully for Boston City Council in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. During the 1991 campaign, the ''

'' noted that she had run for office nine times, although Garrison herself later described the race as her 10th or 11th bid for office. In the 1991 race, Garrison finished in third place in the District 7 preliminary election.

Massachusetts House

In 1992, Garrison ran successfully for the 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House, representing the Dorchester and Roxbury areas of Boston. Garrison's 1992 election to the legislature was made possible in part by the fact that she challenged some of the signatures that the then-incumbent representative,

Nelson Merced Nelson Merced (born August 17, 1947 in New York City) is a Massachusetts Latino activist and politician. He was the first Hispanic elected to the Massachusetts General Court, serving from 1989 to 1993 as Democratic representative from the fifth ...

, had submitted to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. Her challenge was successful and meant that Garrison did not have to run against an incumbent in the general election. In the general election, Garrison defeated Democratic candidate Irene Roman, 2,451 votes to 2,014. The fact that Garrison had been formerly known as a male was not widely publicized until shortly after she was elected to the legislature. When the ''Boston Herald'' asked whether she was a man, Garrison denied it and ended the conversation when asked about her past, including her name change. In the Massachusetts House, Garrison consistently voted in favor of

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s, resulting in her being endorsed for re-election by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and eight unions. On many votes, she voted with the Democrats in the legislature rather than with the Republicans. However, she opposed same-sex marriage and abortion. Garrison was defeated in her 1994 bid for re-election by Democratic candidate

Charlotte Golar Richie Charlotte Golar Richie (born December 11, 1958 in Brooklyn) serves as the senior vice president for public policy, advocacy and government relations for YouthBuild USA. She was a candidate for the mayor of Boston in the 2013 election. Early li ...

by a margin of 2,108 votes to 1,718.

Unsuccessful bids for office

Garrison ran for office at least 32 times, all but one unsuccessfully, including: * 1982: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as a Democratic candidate, finished third in the primary. * 1985: at-large seat in the 1985 Boston City Council election * 1986: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as an Democratic candidate, finished third in the primary. * 1987: at-large seat in the 1987 Boston City Council election * 1988: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as an independent candidate, losing 63.6% to 35.7% to

. * 1989: at-large seat in the 1989 Boston City Council election * 1990: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as a Republican candidate, losing 55.3% to 31.2% to Nelson Merced. * 1991: District 7 seat in the 1991 Boston City Council election * 1995: District 7 seat in the 1995 Boston City Council election * 1996: special election in the 1st Suffolk district in the Massachusetts Senate as a Republican candidate, losing 50.1% to 48.7% to Dick Czubinski in the primary. * 1998: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as a Republican candidate, losing 54.9% to 45.1% to

. * 1997: District 7 seat in the 1997 Boston City Council election * 1998: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as a Democratic candidate, losing 58.5% to 41.5% to Charlotte Golar Richie in the primary. * 1999: District 7 seat in the 1999 Boston City Council election * 1999: special election in the 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as a Democratic candidate, finishing third in the primary. * 2000: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as an "Independent Progressive" candidate * 2001: 2001 Boston mayoral election * 2002: special election for the 1st Suffolk district in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...

as a Republican * 2002: 1st Suffolk district in the Massachusetts Senate as a Republican candidate, losing in the primary 68.9% to 31.0% to Walter R. Campbell. * 2003: at-large seat in the 2003 Boston City Council election * 2005: at-large seat in the

2005 Boston City Council election Boston City Council elections were held on November 8, 2005. Ten seats (six district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 5, 7, and 8 were unopposed. Five seats (the fou ...

* 2006: 5th Suffolk district in Massachusetts House as a Republican candidate * 2008: 1st Suffolk district in the Massachusetts Senate as an independent candidate, losing 79.0% to 25.0% to Jack Hart. * 2009: District 7 seat in the

2009 Boston City Council election Boston City Council elections were held on November 3, 2009. Eight seats (four district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were unopposed. Seven sea ...

* 2010: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House, finishing third in the Democratic primary * 2011:

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to fill a vacancy on the Boston City Council, District 7, eliminated in February preliminary election * 2011: District 7 seat in the

2011 Boston City Council election Boston City Council elections were held on November 8, 2011. Eight seats (four district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 1, 5, 6, 8, and 9 were unopposed. Three seat ...

* 2012: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as an independent candidate, losing 77.6% to 21.7% to

Carlos Henriquez Carlos Tony Henriquez is an American Democratic politician who represented the 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives prior to his expulsion from office in 2014. He was the first house member to be expelled from offi ...

. * 2013: at-large seat in the

2013 Boston City Council election Boston City Council elections were held on November 5, 2013. Twelve seats (eight district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbent in district 3 was unopposed. Eight seats (the four at-lar ...

* 2014: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as a Democratic candidate, losing in the primary 65.3% to 34.3% to

Evandro Carvalho Evandro C. Carvalho (born September 9, 1981) is an American attorney and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2014 to 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party and represented the Fifth Suffolk District, c ...

. * 2015: District 7 seat in the

2015 Boston City Council election Boston City Council elections were held on November 3, 2015. Eight seats (four district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 1, 2, 6, 8, and 9 were unopposed. Two seats ( ...

* 2016: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as an independent candidate, losing 83.9% to 15.6% to Evandro Carvalho. * 2017: at-large seat in the

(fifth place, top four elected) * 2018: 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House as an independent candidate, losing 88.7% to 11% to

Liz Miranda Elizabeth Miranda (born June 29, 1981) is a Cape Verdean-American community organizer and politician. She is senator-elect for the Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Suffolk district after winning a five-way Democratic Primary Election, and advancing to ...

. * 2019: at-large seat in the 2019 Boston City Council election (seventh place, top four elected) * 2020: Register of Probate for

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chel ...

(third place)

Boston City Council

Garrison took the at-large seat of former councillor

on the Boston City Council, as Pressley left the City Council following her November 2018 election to Congress from

Massachusetts's 7th congressional district Massachusetts's 7th congressional district is a congressional district located in eastern Massachusetts, including roughly three-fourths of the city of Boston and a few of its northern and southern suburbs. The seat is currently held by Democrat ...

. City rules require that vacancies for the at-large council seats are filled by the next-placed candidate in the previous election, which was Garrison in November 2017. Garrison was sworn in on January 9, 2019. Garrison claimed that she, despite ideological differences, supported Pressley's election to the House of Representatives with the knowledge that she would have the opportunity to be Pressley's City Council successor by virtue of her own finish in the previous city council election. Garrison was noted as a strong supporter of then-president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, and an ardent backer of the

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1854, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. The ...

. She was also noted as the only strong

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

on the Boston City Council. Garrison described herself as an "independent conservative". She once explained, "I'm basically a conservative, but I also have some liberal ideas," and also explained, "I am a conservative, I am independent also," calling herself "a Black conservative." As a city councilor, Garrison fiercely supported reviving

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price cont ...

in the city. In April 2019, she introduced a

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

petition for the city to seek state permission to reinstate rent control in the city. The petition was heavily criticized by many fellow city council members. Garrison was supportive of the controversial "Operation Clean Sweep" effort by the police in August 2019, which saw 34 arrests in a two-day period in the so-called " Methadone Mile". Garrison proposed a pro-police resolution in the aftermath of

Super Happy Fun America Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) is a Massachusetts-based Conservatism in the United States, right-wing political organization. SHFA and its leaders are known for their ties to white nationalism and the Far-right politics, far-right, and the organi ...

's 2019 "Straight Pride Parade" and unrest related to it. Garrison was a candidate for re-election in the November 2019 election, but finished seventh in the general election field of eight candidates.

Personal life

Garrison identifies as a woman. In general, Garrison usually does not publicly discuss the topic of being a transgender individual.

Background

Political career

Early years

Massachusetts House

Unsuccessful bids for office

Boston City Council

Personal life

Electoral history

Massachusetts House

Massachusetts Senate

Boston mayor

Boston City Council

Suffolk County Register of Probate

Republican State Committee Woman

See also

References

Further reading