CHICAGO — The new City Council will soon have Chicago’s highest-ever representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual alderpeople, offering key opportunities to strengthen the city’s reputation as a beacon for LGBTQ rights while protecting the most vulnerable members of the community, they said.

The number of openly LGB-identifying alderpeople in Chicago will grow from seven to nine, comprising one-fifth of the council, when members are sworn in May 15. No openly transgender or nonbinary alderpeople have been elected in Chicago.

“Mayor-elect Johnson ran on a bold platform that had a very robust policy agenda for the LGBTQ community that was created with the support and input of LGBTQ leaders, so I’m really excited to see him move forward with that agenda,” Ramirez-Rosa said.

Johnson’s platform emphasized the wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation across the nation and promised to further invest in Chicago as a “regional hub for LGBTQ community and culture.”