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Phillipe Cunningham
Member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 4th Ward
In office January 8, 2018 – January 3, 2022
Preceded by	Barb Johnson
Succeeded by	LaTrisha Vetaw
Personal details
Born	(1987-07-07) July 7, 1987 (age 37) Streator, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lane Cunningham ​(m. 2015)​
Education	Mills College Southern Illinois University, Carbondale DePaul University (BA)
Website	Official website

Phillipe M. Cunningham (born July 7, 1987) is a former city council member for Minneapolis Ward 4 and one of the first openly transgender men to be elected to public office in the United States. In the 2017 Minneapolis City Council election, Cunningham won over 20-year incumbent Barb Johnson by 157 votes. He was defeated on November 2, 2021, in the 2021 Minneapolis City Council election by LaTrisha Vetaw.

Early life and education

Cunningham was born in Streator, Illinois, where he lived until he was 18. His father worked as a unionized tractor mechanic/builder for more than forty years, while his mother was a dry cleaner employee; he is their only child. He studied at Mills College and Southern Illinois University Carbondale before transferring to DePaul University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese studies. He transitioned during his junior year at DePaul, inspired by the life and work of Lou Sullivan.

Career

Prior to his election to public office, Cunningham worked as a special education teacher on the South Side of Chicago and for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. He also worked as Senior Policy Aide and Advisor for Education, Youth Success, Racial Equity, and LGBTQ Rights for the Office of the Mayor of Minneapolis.

On November 7, 2017, Cunningham is the first transgender man of color to be elected to public office in the United States. Tyler Titus was elected to the Erie School Board in Pennsylvania the same year as Cunningham. Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins (both on the Minneapolis City Council) are the first openly trans people of color to be elected to a city council anywhere in the United States.

Ward 4 is the northwesternmost Ward in Minneapolis. It is situated on the Mississippi River, which acts as its eastern border, from which it extends to Xerxes Avenue on the west. It is bounded by 53rd Avenue to the north and Lowry Avenue on the south. Additionally, from the southwestern corner, a small portion extends past Lowry Avenue southward to 26th Avenue, in a protruding section with an eastern border on Queen Avenue. Together with Ward 5, it is one of the two wards that make up North Minneapolis. Demographically, people of color and indigenous residents comprise 57 percent of the population in Ward 4. In the 2021 Minneapolis City Elections, Cunningham was defeated by LaTrisha Vetaw. After the election, the Minneapolis Board of Ethical Practices found Cunningham violated the city's ethics code when he deleted a Fourth Ward Facebook discussion in the Fall of 2021. He is currently appealing the decision.

Political views

In November 2018 Cunningham drew attention for a post on Twitter that disparaged opponents of the "Minneapolis 2040" plan as merely seeking to protect their "bungalow neighborhoods."

Cunningham is one of three Minneapolis City Council members who voted to dismantle the city's police department and afterwards started using private security for protection, out of public funds. Cunningham explained that this a temporary measure, in response to death threats. Phillipe Cunningham was part of the city council group of activists known as the " Powderhorn 9 " who stood on a stage in Powderhorn Park and vowed to defund and dismantle the police dept on June 7, 2020. During the 2021 Election, Cunningham tried to distant himself from this fact stating he didn't know the large words "Defund the Police" were across the front of the stage and stating he entered and left the stage from the back. He was subsequently caught on video entering the stage from the front, walking right up steps next to the large words "Defund the Police".

Personal life

Cunningham is black, queer, and transgender.

On July 10, 2015, soon after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, Cunningham married Lane Cunningham, who is an IT professional at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities . They met at the Victory 44, a popular restaurant until its closing in 2017.

References

1. ^ Chris Johnson (November 8, 2017). "Phillipe Cunningham makes history as Minnesota trans male candidate". Washington Blade. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
2. "Phillipe Cunningham Focused On Lifting 'Everybody Up In The Community'". minnesota.cbslocal.com. November 9, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
3. Katelyn Burns (December 18, 2017). "Andrea Jenkins on Her Remarkable Year Making and Preserving Trans History". Broadly. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
4. "Phillippe Cunningham Wins Ward 4, Now 2 Transgender Members Of Minneapolis City Council". CBS Minnesota. November 8, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
5. ^ Laura Ellis (December 16, 2017). "Strange Fruit: Black Queer Bodies Are Not For White Consumption". Strange Fruit. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
6. Jon Collins (November 8, 2017). "Transgender candidates win Mpls. City Council seats, make history". Retrieved December 27, 2017.
7. ^ Andrea Jenkins (September 25, 2015). "Interview with Phillipe Cunningham" (PDF). The Transgender Oral History Project. Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
8. Christine T. Nguyen (February 25, 2019). "ChangeMakers: Phillipe Cunningham". Retrieved November 12, 2019.
9. ^ "Phillipe Cunningham". LinkedIn. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
10. Cai Thomas (September 22, 2016). "Phillipe Cunningham finds success and respect as a transgender man". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
11. ^ Michael Kleber-Diggs (February 23, 2017). "A Seat at the Table: Phillipe Cunningham's vision for youth and building community wealth for Ward 4". Retrieved November 15, 2019.
12. "Index - Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
13. Du, Susan; February 11, Star Tribune; Pm, 2022-4:07. "Minneapolis board finds former Council Member Phillipe Cunningham violated ethics code". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2022-02-16. {{cite web}}: |first3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
14. "Are Twin Cities bungalow homes an endangered species?". www.startribune.com. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
15. "Minneapolis council members who voted to dismantle the police use private security". Washington Examiner. 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
16. Tribune, Liz Navratil Star. "Most of Minneapolis City Council pledges to 'begin the process of ending' Police Department". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
17. Defund Minneapolis Police Community Meeting [Full Video], retrieved 2021-12-08
18. Belz, Adam (February 4, 2017). "Transgender candidates for Mpls. City Council seek a voice at the table". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
19. Mark Reilly (2018-11-09). "Chef Erick Harcey's next restaurant: Inside an old department store on Main Street, Cambridge". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved November 27, 2019.

External links

• Phillipe Cunningham, City Council Ward 4
• Phillipe Cunningham at Ballotpedia
• Cunningham on Twitter

• 1987 births
• Living people
• African-American city council members in Minnesota
• DePaul University alumni
• LGBT city councillors from the United States
• LGBT African Americans
• LGBT people from Illinois
• LGBT people from Minnesota
• Mills College alumni
• Minneapolis City Council members
• Queer men
• Transgender and transsexual men
• Transgender and transsexual politicians
• 21st-century American politicians
• 21st-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century African-American people
• African-American people in Minnesota politics