Statehouse Advocate
Brenda is a well-known presence at the Statehouse as Legislative Liaison for the LGBTQIA Allliance of Vermont.
She was new to politics at first, but she has played a key role in passing several pieces of legislation and advocating for progressive causes.
She was also outreach director on Christine Hallquist’s historic run for governor in 2018.
She accompanied Hallquist on campaign stops in every county in Vermont.
Brenda was instrumental in the passage of bills requiring public buildings to provide gender-neutral bathrooms, adding a third gender marker to state driver’s licenses and state-issued ID cards, and creating a non-binary option on Vermont birth certificates.
She has testified before legislative committees on a variety of issues including paid family leave, universal primary care, and a $15 per hour minimum wage.
She also helped to pass a legislative resolution denouncing hate crimes and committing the Legislature to protecting laws that foster equality for all.
Brenda helped pass a bill calling for ethnic and social equity studies standards for public school, and worked with the Education Justice Coalition of Vermont to bring a more accurate representation of history through all subjects taught in our schools.
She has also worked with the Vermont State Police on implementing a statewide Fair and Impartial Policing policy and training troopers on protocol for transfolx.
Brenda is a graduate of Emerge Vermont and is the only trans member of its cabinet. She also serves on the executive board of the Vermont Democratic Party.
Senate President Becca Balint entered a quote from Brenda’s testimony on the “bathroom bill” into the Senate archives: "Vermont is a state that has often shown the rest of the United States where to go and how to get there." Her purposeful double entendre is now part of that reading and Vermont legislative history.