An openly-gay and HIV-positive politician has never been in Louisiana’s Legislature, but Chris Daigle aims to be the first.
Originally from Thibodaux, Daigle is running to represent State House district 96 in the Jan. 29 election. The district includes the French Quarter and surrounding New Orleans neighborhoods.
Being openly-gay might do more than just turn heads.
“Generally, being an openly- gay candidate [in Louisiana] would be detrimental to the campaign, but if the district is less conservative, it may not hurt him,” said Robert Hogan, political science assistant professor.
Hogan said Daigle’s chances of being elected depend on the demographic make-up of the district. District 96 has a higher concentration of gays than most areas, which could raise his chances of winning, Daigle said.
The 49-year-old activist has built his career on equality for women, children, gays, blacks and the poor. Daigle said being elected will come with huge responsibility of being an advocate for the Louisiana gay community.
“Daigle has been working for the rights of all people,” said Ryan Berni, executive director of the College Democrats of Louisiana.
Because he is HIV-positive, Daigle said he has a unique opportunity to represent others who have HIV. He said few people are proactive when it comes to addressing the virus. Daigle said he would use his elected position to encourage dialogue among black women, who have higher rates of infection than any other demographic group.
But being gay and HIV-positive does not make Daigle a single-issue politician, he said. He also cares about state economic development, improving education and lowering the state’s crime rates.
If elected, Daigle said he would like to continue working on state efforts to make schools safer and work with New Orleans city government to hire and retain more police officers.
Daigle also focuses on representing college students.
As a member of the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee and the State Democratic Executive Committee, Daigle worked with the College Democrats of Louisiana. Berni said Daigle will continue to work on behalf of college students to make college more accessible.
Daigle said TOPS is one of the most innovative pieces of legislation ever enacted, but that it needs reform. He said he would like to examine the graduation rate of high school students who get TOPS and, based on the findings, decide if the grade point average should be raised.
Daigle is the director of Government and Community Affairs for Equality Louisiana, a group that promotes the equality of all individuals especially LGBT people. Before being director, he served on the board for ten years. Daigle also was director of Tulane University’s Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Life.