Finishing off our look at the recently elected LGBTQ NDP MLAs, I finally managed to catch up with Estefania Cortes-Vargas, representative for Strathcona-Sherwood Park. Like Michael Connolly, she is young. Like Ricardo Miranda, she is an immigrant. Estefania also has other perspective: as a woman, a lesbian, and someone who lives in the greater Edmonton area.

Estefania came to Canada when she was five – her father hailed from an area that was not quite rural, not quite urban Colombia – which is why Sherwood Park, just east of Edmonton, appealed to them. Her mother was a speech pathologist and, as this was one of the professions Canada needed at the time, it helped speed along their immigration process.

Her family helped forge the career path she was considering before becoming an MLA. During Estefania’s high school years, her little brother was born. He had speech delay issues as a toddler "...so throughout my high school my mom and I did a lot of play therapy with him, and now you can’t tell he used to have a really severe speech delay."

Her dad did a lot of training and development with the Colombian community when he arrived, "so we always had a lot of people coming to our house... immigrants from different places who were not sure where to go first, so our house became a stopping ground. It was a really beautiful way to grow up, and hear a lot of stories of diversity, and people facing a lot of different trials."

After high school Estefania became an educational assistant for the Edmonton Public School Board to support herself while attending university. "I love education, I love building communities and... I would start working on a lot of social justice programs." Working with children, she found a strategy that worked: find out what the children need and require – not just educationally, but overall – to help them succeed. "Finally, after a few years, I thought If I want to keep advocating, I want to do this right so I went into social work at MacEwan University."

Estefania’s experiences came into focus, merging advocacy and community building with political action, during a practicum at Rachel Notley’s constituency office. As she operated from the constituency office, the work was non-partisan, but Estefania’s curiosity in the political machinery was piqued so that she began volunteering on Notley's planning committee. When Notely asked her to run she thought, with her background on advocacy, it was a role she wanted to tackle for her neighbourhood. "Sherwood Park has always been home to me, and I thought I would bring a unique perspective to the legislature," she said. "It surprised me to see the end result."

Amid campaigning, though she didn't highlight her sexuality, Estefania made no efforts to hide it. It was a stated part of her biography. "When I went out on the campaign trails, I didn't hear any negative feedback... I actually had quite a few youths from my community come to me and talk to me about how important it was to them to see an LGBTQ person campaigning and being a candidate, and how that’s inspirational to them." She came out to her family after high school. "My parents were really welcoming and supportive. They took some time to adjust and understand. There are preconceived notions of what you want your children to have, what you don’t want your children to face. It took them a little time, but they have always been really supportive."

As an openly gay individual, choosing a party that welcomed and respected her was something Estefania was happy she found with the New Democrats. The party even asked and respected her choices as to how she is addressed in the Legislature – by a gender neutral ‘member’ rather than ‘miss’. "Always the response from the NDP caucus has been if they are not sure they’ll ask questions, but always very supportive."

Estefania experienced the election with a partner cheering her on. The two place emphasis on strong communication and encouragement. They both have their own interests, and they want to make sure the other can follow their passion. "She was very supportive, and actually her family was very supportive during the campaign... She is my support system. She helps me kind of ground myself, start again, and keep going. I am so grateful to have her in this experience because she always reminds me of why I wanted to do this in the first place."

As a rookie MLA, after the thrill of winning has worn off, you are faced with stepping into a new job. Much like any other job, they essentially hand you a heavy book and say Here, read this and it'll tell you how to be an MLA. Estefania was okay with that. "The good thing is I really love policy, so if you gave me a book like that I would totally read it. And they did... they gave us quite a few binders... You would be surprised how many of those I did read."

Working in Notely’s constituency office, Estefania had learned about some of the procedures involved in being a member of the legislature, so it wasn't as overwhelming as most people would expect. Additionally, for the short session the NDP government had after the election, the caucus discussed and did a run-through covering what would happen in a legislative session – including speaking order,  objective to the day’s session, what the procedures are, when do you talk, when you must be sitting, even when you are allowed to take off your jacket. "Brian Mason was an incredible leader through it all. He would really outline what was going to happen and it really gave us time – in that session, because it was really short and compact – gave us a really good overview that was complimented very well with those binders and by what would happen."

It has only been a few months since the election, but Estefania is settling into the role. Like Miranda, another gay immigrant, Estefania has heard feedback from LGBTQ immigrants who are inspired by her achieving office. "Quite a few people have reached out, and it’s really moving to see... Sometimes you need to see someone else being brave; someone else being honest and open. It’s one of the things I love about Canadian culture, is how accepting people are. I know if I had been raised in Colombia it would be a little more difficult for me."

Regarding what she wants to see this government accomplish, in the short session following May election, Estefania presented Alberta’s Local Food Act. The MLA seeks to find ways to build a sustainable economy through investing in our own local farms. In addition, she wants to see the Human Rights Act expanded to include more definitions that are all-encompassing – including transgender definitions.

As I finished off the interview with the three of the MLAs, I had just finished watching The Imitation Game, the movie about Alan Turing and the Enigma machine. Reflecting on how only 60 years ago a gay man, even as talented as Turing was, could still be considered a criminal, I paused to consider how far the LGBTQ community and society has come in my lifetime. We keep moving forward, and to see LGBTQ folk appearing in more and more positions openly in society – when there are some alive today who remember being imprisoned for who they loved – regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, this is something for which we can be proud.

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Contributor Evan Kayne |

Locale Edmonton |

Person Estefania Cortes-Vargas |

Topic Alberta NDP |Politics |