Taylor Small (born March 26, 1994) is an American politician. She is a member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

Early life

Small was born in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

to Canadian parents. She lived in

Johnson, Vermont Johnson is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,491 at the 2020 census. The town is home to Northern Vermont University-Johnson, a part the Vermont State Colleges system. The Vermont Studio Center is located ...

, and then

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

as a child. She returned to Vermont with her mother upon her parents' divorce and attended

Colchester High School Colchester High School is a coeducational independent school located in Colchester in Essex, England. The school is owned and operated by the Cognita Group. Colchester High is the only coeducational independent school in Colchester to offer sec ...

and Burlington Technical Center. She then went on to graduate from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 2016 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Human Development and Family Studies with a minor in Sexuality and Gender Identity Studies.

Career

Small was elected to the

in the 2020 general election after the incumbent Diana Gonzalez retired and is the state's first openly transgender legislator, and the fifth in the nation. She ran on both the Democratic ticket and

Vermont Progressive Party The Vermont Progressive Party, formerly the Progressive Coalition, is a progressive political party in the United States founded in 1999 and active only in the state of Vermont. As of 2019, the party has two members in the Vermont Senate and sev ...

ticket and won with 41% of the vote. She is the Education Manager (and former Director of the Health and Wellness program) at Pride Center of Vermont and has worked with the

Vermont Department of Health The Vermont Department of Health is a government department responsible for the health of the U.S. state of Vermont. It is a sub-division of the Vermont Agency of Human Services. As of March 2017, the Department of Health is led by Mark Levine, M ...

. Prior to that, she worked in mental health at

Howard Center Howard Center is a Burlington, Vermont-based nonprofit organization that offers professional crisis and counseling services to children and adults; supportive services to individuals with autism and developmental disabilities who need help with ...

and Northwestern Counseling and Support Services and supported homeless and runaway youth with Spectrum Youth and Family Services. Through her drag persona, Nikki Champagne, along with her colleague, Emoji Nightmare, she has promoted local libraries and youth literacy and hosted fundraisers to help support Vermont’s non-profit organizations. Small was named a 2022 Politician of Year by One Young World, receiving her award in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England in September 2022 alongside four other young politicians from around the world.

Personal life

Small lives in Winooski with her partner, Carsen, and their dogs, Theobroma and Charlie.

References

External links

Vermont General Assembly profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Taylor Living people 1994 births American drag queens American people of Canadian descent Candidates in the 2020 United States elections LGBT state legislators in Vermont Mental health activists People from Johnson, Vermont Transgender politicians Transgender women Transgender drag performers University of Vermont alumni Vermont Democrats Vermont Progressive Party politicians