2020 campaign and first term
In the 2020 elections,Turner ran as a Democrat for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in district 88,held by incumbent Democrat Jason Dunnington. [5] The district is located in Central Oklahoma City,primarily to the southeast of Interstate 44 and to the west of Interstate 235,containing the campus of Oklahoma City University. [7] Turner's 2020 election campaign was focused on criminal justice reform,public education,and raising the minimum wage. Turner defeated Dunnington in the primary election and was backed by U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. In the general election,they defeated Kelly Barlean,the Republican nominee,in a landslide,with approximately 71% of the vote. [8] During the general election,Turner was also endorsed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren. [9] [10] Turner is the first publicly non-binary US state lawmaker and the first Muslim member of the Oklahoma Legislature. [1]
Turner first served in the 58th Oklahoma Legislature. During the 58th legislative session,Turner was an outspoken critic of multiple anti-LGBT bills proposed in the legislature. Specifically,Turner worked against bills that would seek to bar transgender athletes from competing in the sports of their gender. Turner has described the legislature as unwelcoming towards them. They have said,"sometimes,I'm like,'This does feel like a direct attack on me…I think it is also folks who come into these bodies that aren't prepared to do the real work,but want to legislate from a place of bigotry,or a place of fear." Of the fourteen bills Turner filed in the first session,none were given a committee hearing by the Republican-led Oklahoma House of Representatives. [11]
Re-election campaign and second term
Turner was reelected in the 2022 elections to serve in the 59th Oklahoma Legislature. [12] In 2023,the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma issued a statement criticizing the Oklahoma House of Representatives for tabling Turner's proposed amendments to the chamber's dress code rules that would have made the rules gender neutral. [13] On April 3,2024,they announced they were retiring due to health concerns and would not seek a third term. [14]
House censure
On February 28,2023,the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed H.B. 2177; [15] the bill would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. [16] During protests that day,a protester allegedly tossed water on Representative Bob Ed Culver Jr. and had a physical interaction [note 1] with a police officer. [18] After the altercation,the protester was locked in Turner's office;The Oklahoma Highway Patrol alleged Turner refused to unlock the office when they communicated with them through the door. [19] On March 7,the Republican-controlled Oklahoma House voted along party lines to censure Representative Turner. [16] [20] They were also removed from their committee assignments until a written apology is sent to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Speaker Charles McCall. [19] Turner denied wrongdoing saying "I just provide my office as space of grace and love for all the folks in all communities that seek refuge from the hate in this building... Trans people don't feel safe here." [18] They also declined to apologize,stating "I think an apology for loving the people of Oklahoma is something that I cannot do." [16] Oklahoma House Democrats criticized the censure because no investigation was done before the censure,Turner had not committed a crime,and because multiple members of the Republican majority that were facing indictment had yet to be censured. [19] [note 2] The New York Times compared Turner's censure to the Montana House of Representatives censure of Zooey Zephyr,another transgender state lawmaker,who was censured for giving a speech in the Montana chamber for saying supporters of an anti-transgender health bill had "blood on [their] hands" for voting for a bill "tantamount to torture." [25]
