Estefan Cortes-Vargas (born Estefania Cortes-Vargas, 1991) is a Colombian-born Canadian politician and non-profit administrator who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electoral district of Strathcona-Sherwood Park as a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party.[1] Upon election, they became one of the first three out LGBT people elected to the Alberta legislature, alongside caucus colleagues Michael Connolly and Ricardo Miranda.[2]
Estefan Cortes-Vargas | |
|---|---|
 Cortes-Vargas in 2015 | |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Strathcona-Sherwood Park | |
| In office May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Dave Quest |
| Succeeded by | Nate Glubish |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1990/1991 (age 31–32) Colombia |
| Political party | Alberta New Democratic Party |
| Occupation | Non-Profit Administrator |
Although Cortes-Vargas was represented in media coverage during the election campaign as female and lesbian,[2] in December 2015, they formally came out as non-binary in the legislature during debate on the inclusion of transgender rights in the provincial human rights code.[3] While the provincial Hansard normally reports members' speeches under the gender honorifics "Mr." or "Ms.", Cortes-Vargas was recorded as "Member Cortes-Vargas".[3] They chose not to run in the 2019 Alberta general election.[4]
In 2019, Cortes-Vargas was named executive director of the Pride Centre of Edmonton.[5] They remained in that role until July 2020 when they became the new executive director for OUTSaskatoon.[6] They have been the vice-president of the Enchanté Network, which is a coalition of 2SLGBTQ+ community organizations across Canada, since 2020. In September 2022, they started their studies to become a lawyer at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in Saskatoon.
Electoral historyEdit
2015 general electionEdit
| 2015 Alberta general election: Strathcona-Sherwood Park | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Estefania Cortes-Vargas | 9,376 | 42.61% | 34.10% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Dave Quest | 6,623 | 30.10% | -20.62% | ||||
| Wildrose | Rob Johnson | 5,286 | 24.02% | -9.62% | ||||
| Alberta Party | Lynne Kaiser | 721 | 3.28% | – | ||||
| Total | 22,006 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 50 | 38 | 22 | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | 34,346 | 64.28% | 4.55% | |||||
| New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +27.36% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "82 - Strathcona-Sherwood Park, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Chief Electoral Officer (2016). 2015 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer (PDF) (Report). Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. | ||||||||
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "Alberta Election 2015: NDP’s Estefania Cortes-Vargas wins Strathcona-Sherwood Park riding". Global News, May 5, 2015.
- ^ a b "NDP candidate supports education" Archived 2015-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. Sherwood Park News, April 30, 2015.
- ^ a b "An Alberta MLA on battling gender identity". Maclean's, December 1, 2015.
- ^ Bellefontaine, Michelle (January 21, 2019). "NDP MLAs Jansen, Cortes-Vargas announce they're not running again". CBC News. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
- ^ Konguavi, Thandiwe (July 25, 2019). "Former NDP whip takes lead of embattled Pride Centre of Edmonton". CBC News. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
- ^ "Announcement of Departure of Executive Director – Estefan Cortes-Vargas" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-07-16.
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