“I didn’t want just anybody representing me:” Meet Mauree Turner, America’s first nonbinary state representative
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In 2022, we’re witnessing the first wave of Gen Z candidates running for Congress. But we’re also seeing the first wave of Zoomers running for state and local offices to effect change in their own backyards. Chegg Life sat down with a series of candidates under 30 who will be on the ballot this November. We asked them about the problems they’re running to fix, the importance of local politics and cynicism among young voters. View the whole series here.
Mauree Turner, an organizer with the ACLU of Oklahoma, first ran for the state’s house of representatives in 2020 at the age of 27. Turner wasn’t an “I-want-to-be-a-politician” type of kid. But growing up queer, Black and Muslim in the Midwest, Turner, who uses they/them pronouns, saw leadership that didn’t represent them — from high school student government to college clubs to their work as an activist.
Eventually, some fellow activists asked Turner to step up to the plate and run for office. They beat a moderate Democratic incumbent in the primary and became America’s first nonbinary state legislator and Oklahoma’s first Muslim lawmaker in any office.
Turner’s political career hasn’t been easy. One of two Democrats in Oklahoma’s GOP-controlled House, they’ve received death threats and been harassed just for showing up to work. But they believe it’s worth it to keep organizing their community and trying to invite constituents into the political process. Now, they’re running for their second term to fight for fair housing, LGBTQ protections and to help reimagine criminal justice.
How did you become interested in politics?
I got involved in student government in high school because my mom suggested it. I ran for secretary and didn’t get it. Someone else did who didn’t have the same beliefs as me. That planted that seed of [me thinking] “I don't want just anybody representing me.”
At Oklahoma State University, I wanted to drop out after my freshman year, but my mom said, “I think you should give it more of a shot.” At that point, I was just going to class, one club, then bed. So I got involved with student government and ended up working my way to the top. Again, because I saw the people who were going into government and I was like, “I certainly don't want to be represented by these people.” I also got involved in the NAACP and became the president for the youth division of Oklahoma. I loved seeing the convergence of organizing and community care.
How did you decide to run for office?
My first job out of college was with the ACLU of Oklahoma. When I started doing community organizing and policy work at the same time, I realized that the folks in the legislature will never have to live on the other side of the decisions they make, like with what's going on right now with abortion. I started asking organizers and folks in my community: “Would you run for office? Because we need folks closest to the issues trying to fix them, who are already solving these problems. Pretty soon, people started asking me the same question.
There are so many hurdles to running. When you are marginalized, your whole life comes with you to the capitol. People don’t realize how much you risk when you put your name on a ballot as a non-white cis, Christian or Catholic man. I never thought I’d be working a job where I got death threats just for showing up to work as a black, Muslim, queer, gender-diverse person. We are charged with not only writing and voting on policy but also educating our communities and folks on both sides of the aisle.
I said, “Okay, I’m in a somewhat stable position.” I was willing to take a leap of faith because that is community organizing: answering a call to action.
What was your first race like?
I never thought we’d win in 2020. Political science tells us your first election is about name recognition. Your second or third is about winning. I thought I'd be running again now, maybe win for the first time in 2023.
What’s something you feel proud of accomplishing in your first term?
I’m proud of how much I’ve been able to continue to organize from my role. We do a lot of organizing and education out of session — dinners, workshops, trainings with community leaders. The number of people who’ve told us, “I’ve never gone to a political event, I’ve never wanted to be involved with politics,” being able to give people like that hope and inspire them to show up and get engaged. That’s been the greatest honor of my life.
So engaging your community feels like a bigger accomplishment than any one piece of legislation.
I am the first Muslim elected in Oklahoma, the first nonbinary person elected in U.S. history. I work in a supermajority of Republicans. These are not common sense folks. These are people who actively want to deny my existence. It’s very hard for me to actually push legislation. However, we start a lot of conversations about how we can reimagine justice and society.
Why did you run for this role specifically? Why at the local level?
It’s where we needed someone. And it’s the work I was already doing as an advocate. I wouldn’t have run for school board or city council because I have a wonderful city councilor. I primaried a Democrat. He wasn’t the worst, but we are a progressive district, so we need to keep pushing to envision a better future in the legislation we’re writing. Our rep at the time was not doing that.
At the state level, we make policy about things that affect our state. We have the power to give and take state funding and allocate dollars. We deal with law enforcement, district courts, school funding, the minimum wage. For instance, we recently saw a bill that said “If you are a school getting state funding, you can’t talk about gender or sexuality in diversity trainings, and if you do, we’ll take away state funding.” We try to stop things like that.
What’s the single most pressing policy or issue for you?
I grew up with a father and a grandfather who were often in prison, so my big passion is reimagining criminal justice. Not reform, because reform means the system is working but could work better. In reality, criminal justice is working flawlessly — as it was designed — to keep our communities locked up.
We did an interim study about transitional and green zone housing for people who’ve just gotten out of jail or detention after a long period — when people need help doing things like getting a car and ID. Green zone housing is for people who have a sex offense on their records. Right now, people in those situations often end up on the street, and nobody deserves to live on the street.
What is it like working with your fellow legislators as a queer, Black, Muslim person? How do people treat you?
Entering politics was a shock. I was in a bubble before. I worked in the ACLU, in social justice communities. I didn’t realize how much organizing and education I would have to do within the Democratic Party. Folks just weren’t there yet.
What I think is interesting is that one of the first conversations I had about pronouns was with a 65-year-old white Republican representative in my freshman orientation in the House. One day, we were riding up the elevator, and he said, “You mentioned something in orientation about pronouns.” I was like, “Yes, I did.” He said, “Okay, so what are your pronouns?” I said, “My pronouns are they and them.” He was like, “So what are my pronouns?” “I was like, “I’m assuming they might be he/him.” He was like, “I’m older, and I don’t get it right all the time but just correct me if I ever get it wrong.” It was the sweetest conversation. We don’t get to cherry-pick who crosses the finish line of liberation with us. We are continuously expanding our vision of how we can bring people in.
There are a lot of young people running in elections this year. How important is it that young people have representation?
It’s so important to see yourself represented. There are good older politicians who will understand you. Before you run, make sure that the person you are running against truly doesn’t understand you and isn’t willing to learn. However, there’s something to be said for getting young folks in office because we just get it quicker. We want things to happen faster. And things happen faster when we don’t have to spend time showing the people in power how they screwed up and saying it in a nice tone. That’s how democracy works. If you don't feel represented, if you don’t feel listened to, find someone to run against them or run yourself. I worked with my representative for years at the ACLU leading up to running for office. We had a working history that wasn't great. That’s why I decided to run.
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