Andrea Hong Marra is an American politician and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

who ran to represent

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

' District 13 in the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

. She used to work in communications at the

Arcus Foundation The Arcus Foundation is an international charitable foundation focused on issues related to LGBT rights, social justice, ape conservation, and environmental preservation. The foundation's stated mission is "to ensure that LGBT people and our fell ...

. She serves on the boards of Freedom for All Americans and

Just Detention International Just Detention International (JDI) is an American human rights organization dedicated to ending prison rape. As of 2011, JDI was the only NGO exclusively devoted to combatting the sexual abuse of prisoners. JDI is based in Los Angeles. History ...

. In November 2018, Marra was appointed executive director of Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF).

Personal life

Marra was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and was adopted as an infant. She grew up in Albany,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, raised by a mother who worked as a dietician. Marra came out to her parents as gay in sixth grade, and was bullied after coming out in middle school. She advocated for the

Dignity for All Students Act New York State's Dignity for All Students Act, also known as The Dignity Act, and most commonly referred to by its acronym, DASA, is legislation in the U.S. state of New York, established to provide a school environment free of discrimination and ...

in high school, planting her aspirations for public office. In 2003, she took a job with

GLSEN GLSEN (pronounced ''glisten''; formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is an American education organization working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expres ...

in upstate New York, and came out as transgender. She graduated from

Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

in 2008 and moved to Jackson Heights in 2009, after being attacked in her previous neighborhood due to her transgender identity. Marra met her birth mother as a participant of a trip to Korea organized by Nodutdol for Korean Community Development. In 2012, she authored a

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

blog post telling the story of coming out as a transgender woman to her South Korean birth mother, and the post went viral. Marra is engaged to be married. Her fiancé, Drew, is also a Korean American adoptee.

Political career

Marra has worked in

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

advocacy at

as a publications manager, at

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

as a senior media strategist and, currently, Arcus Foundation. She once served on the board of the

National Center for Transgender Equality The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a nonprofit social equality organization founded in 2003 by transgender activist Mara Keisling in Washington, D.C. The organization works primarily in the areas of policy advocacy and media ...

. In addition to LGBT advocacy, Marra is an advocate for Korean Unification and worked at Nodutdol. Marra announced her candidacy for

on February 6, 2018, citing

healthcare reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insu ...

, transportation, affordable housing and safety as her legislative priorities.

Awards and recognition

* White House Next Generation of LGBT Leaders *

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

's 40 under 40 in 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marra, Andrea Hong Living people American women of Korean descent in politics Asian-American people in New York (state) politics American disability rights activists American human rights activists Transgender women politicians Transgender rights activists South Korean adoptees American adoptees American LGBTQ rights activists American LGBTQ people of Asian descent 21st-century people from Washington, D.C. American nonprofit executives 1985 births 21st-century American LGBTQ people South Korean transgender women American transgender women