Adrian Tam (; born September 11, 1992) is an American politician serving as a member of the

Hawaii House of Representatives The Hawaii House of Representatives is the lower house of the Hawaii State Legislature. Pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of Hawaii, amended during the 1978 constitutional convention, the House of Representatives consis ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he is currently serves as the interim Chair of the

Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii ( haw, ʻAoʻao Demokalaka o Hawaiʻi) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention b ...

Early life

Tam is a second-generation

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

ancestry. His father had served as an assistant to a draftsman, and his mother worked in sales. Following graduation from

Kalani High School Kalani High School is a four-year public high school located in East Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Kalani is a part of the Hawaii Department of Education. Kalani is located on Kalanianaole Highway. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools ...

, he graduated with a degree in history from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

, and upon returning to Hawaii, began working for his family's real estate company.

Political career

Tam worked in the

Hawaii Senate The Hawaii Senate is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate, elected from the membe ...

for Senator Stanley Chang before running for public office in 2020. He defeated incumbent

Tom Brower Tom Brower (born March 3, 1965) is an American politician. He was a Democratic House member of the Hawaii House of Representatives who represented the 22nd district— which includes Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kakaako on the island of Oahu. In his ...

in the

primary election, then won the general election for the 22nd district of the

against Republican Party candidate

Nicholas Ochs Nicholas Ochs (born 1985 or 1986), sometimes Nick Ochs, is a former U.S. Marine, a 2020 Republican Hawaii House of Representatives candidate, and the founder of the Proud Boy's Hawaii chapter. After taking part in January 6 United States Capitol ...

, who previously served as the vice chairman of

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 ...

's Hawaii campaign in the

2016 United States elections The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congres ...

, had strong support from

Roger Stone Roger Jason Stone (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American conservative political consultant and lobbyist. Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on the campaigns of Republican politicians, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Rea ...

and drew media attention for founding the Hawaii chapter of the

Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence: * * * It has ...

.FBI arrests founder of ‘Proud Boys Hawaii’ after he returns to islands from U.S. Capitol riots
/ref> After Tam was seated, he became the only openly gay member of the

Hawaii State Legislature The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, the ...

. Following the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

, Tam and other Hawaii lawmakers signed a letter requesting rioters to be placed on the federal

No Fly List The No Fly List maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flight ...

. Tam is a member of the Progressive Legislative Caucus. In December 2023, Tam was elected interim Chair of the

by the State Central Committee. His term ends in May 2024.

Personal life

Tam lives with his dog, Winston.

Awards and honors

In June 2021,

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...

named Tam one of its "Pride50" people "who made a positive impact in the last year and who are helping to lead the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all queer people".

Electoral history

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Adrian Living people 1992 births 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American LGBT people American politicians of Chinese descent American politicians of Taiwanese descent American real estate brokers American gay politicians Hawaii politicians of Chinese descent American LGBT people of Asian descent LGBT state legislators in Hawaii Democratic Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives Pennsylvania State University alumni