The Washington State LGBTQ Commission during their second day of its inaugural meeting elected transgender activists Marsha Botzer from Jefferson County and Issys Honnen from King County as Co-Chairs of its Executive Committee. The Executive Committee also includes Spokane County residents Jac Archer as Vice-Chair and Alvaro Figueroa as Secretary.
“I am honored to serve with the other Commissioners, and with our wonderful Executive director and staff,” said Commissioner Botzer. “My deepest gratitude to join Isyss Honnen as one of the Co-Chairs of our new Commission. Our task is clear: We will be unwavering advocates for LGBTQ Equity in all aspects of state government!” Commissioner Botzer is a recognized voice in the LGBTQ community in Washington. Botzer has a background as a union organizer and was the founder of Ingersoll Gender Center in Seattle in 1977.
Commissioner Honnen is Project Director for TRANSform Washington with Pride Foundation in Seattle, where she uses storytelling, community organizing, public education, and political advocacy as a tool of liberation to shift culture and advance the liberation of transgender people. She is the Co-Chair for UTOPIA Seattle and the co-founder of the Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network. About her election as Co-Chair, Honnen says, “I am humbled to bask in the brilliance and heart that is this Commission. I want to honor the legacy of Black and Brown trans women and femmes, LGBTQ elders, and ancestors, sex workers, drag queens, and gender nonconforming folx who were and are unapologetically defiant in the fight for our collective liberation.”
Commissioner Jac Archer, elected as Vice-Chair, is an Education Specialist working for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. They also serve on the Spokane Community Against Racism Steering Committee, and the Spokane Human Rights Commission. Commissioner Alvaro Figueroa, elected as Secretary, is the Commission Specialist at Avista Corporation, he serves on several philanthropic boards such as the Northeast Community Center, Spokane Edible Tree Project, and Spokane County Human Rights Task Force.
The first public meeting of the LGBTQ Commission took place over two days, on February 28-29 in Olympia. The newly appointed Commissioners had several trainings related to their roles as representatives of the community, heard from local LGBTQ leaders in Thurston, Pierce, and King Counties, and set priorities for the first year of the Commission. In addition, the Commissioners welcomed Governor Jay Inslee, who shared with them some of the achievements of his administration in expanding rights for the LGBTQ community, including the establishing of the Commission, a ban on conversation therapy for minors, and more recently, banning the use of “LGBTQ panic defense” in crimes against LGBTQ people.
The Washington State LGBTQ Commission works to improve the state’s interface with the two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex communities, identify the needs of its members, and ensuring that there is an effective means of advocating for LGBTQ equity in all aspects of state government. The next scheduled meeting of the Commission will take place on Saturday, May 30th in Spokane County.