Susan Allen (born March 27, 1963) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician and former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

(DFL), she represented District 62B, a southside district encompassing the Powderhorn and Bryant neighborhoods of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. She was the first Native American woman to serve in the Minnesota Legislature and the first openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

Native American to win election to a state legislature. She did not seek re-election in 2018.

Early life, education, and career

The daughter of an Episcopal priest, Allen graduated from

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

in Minneapolis in 1992. She later earned a J.D. from the

University of New Mexico Law School The University of New Mexico School of Law (UNM Law or New Mexico Law) is the law school of the University of New Mexico, a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1947, it is the first and only law school in the state. ...

(1995) and an LL.M. from

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, from 1956 to 2015. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of ...

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

(1999). She became a practicing attorney in 1997 and a partner of her law firm in 2004.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Allen was one of four openly gay members, alongside Representatives Karen Clark and Erin Maye Quade and Senator Scott Dibble, in the Minnesota Legislature.

Elections

When state representative

Jeff Hayden Jeffrey D. Hayden (born September 24, 1966) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 62, which includes portions of south Minn ...

was elected to the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

in October 2011, he vacated his seat in the House of Representatives. Allen was one of four DFLers to put themselves forward for the seat and, at the DFL nominating convention held on November 12, she received the party's endorsement on the third ballot. She nevertheless faced a primary election on December 6, facing three opponents, two of whom had suspended their campaigns after losing at the convention. Allen won the nomination handily, taking over 82% of the vote in the primary. In the general election held on January 10, 2012, she faced only one opponent, who ran under the "Respect" label, beating him 56–43%. She was re-elected in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 general elections. She did not seek re-election in 2018.

Personal life

As an attorney, Allen specializes in serving

Indian tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Native Americans in the Unit ...

s, helping them draft tribal laws in a wide range of areas. She is

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: * Lakota, Iowa * Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County * La ...

and a member of the

Rosebud Sioux Tribe The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who are Sicangu, a band of Lakota people. The Lakota name ''Sicangu Oyate'' translates as t ...

. She identifies as

two-spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Susan 1963 births 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century American Episcopalians 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Native Americans 21st-century American women politicians Augsburg University alumni Living people Lakota people Lawyers from Minneapolis Lesbian politicians LGBT Anglicans LGBT lawyers LGBT Native Americans LGBT people from Utah LGBT state legislators in Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Native American Episcopalians Native American lawyers Native American state legislators in Minnesota Native American women in politics Politicians from Minneapolis University of New Mexico School of Law alumni William Mitchell College of Law alumni Women state legislators in Minnesota 21st-century American women lawyers 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Two-spirit people Rosebud Sioux people