Rep. Sam Park, Leading with a Broken Heart
It’s never been easy, politically or religiously, to be queer or trans in this country – but this year, politics has made it harder than it’s been in decades- state lawmakers introduced 240 anti-gay bills across the US- and some seem to think homophobia is socially acceptable again.
That makes Sam Park’s job both more important and more difficult. Sam is the first openly gay state rep ever elected in Georgia…in 2016.
I found him to be so thoughtful about how he looks at the conflicts he faces as a gay Korean-American Democrat serving in Georgia – how he deals with adversity, how his own faith informs his work, and where he finds hope.
State Representative Sam Park is a native Georgian born and raised by a single mother who instilled in him the importance of faith, family and hard work. Sam's grandparents were refugees from the Korean War who moved to the US in the early 1980's in pursuit of the “American Dream.” After receiving a Fellowship in Civil Rights and Constitutional Law from American University Washington College of Law, Sam earned his Masters in Law in 2014 with a specialization in law, politics and legislation. In December 2014, Sam’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Through her fight against cancer, Sam learned firsthand the importance of having access to healthcare. On a platform of expanding Medicaid to ensure access to healthcare for all Georgians, Sam ran for office as a first-time candidate in 2016 and unseated a three-term Republican chairwoman with a grassroots campaign to become the first Asian American Democrat and first openly gay man elected to the Georgia State Legislature.
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