Rep. Leigh Finke Is Fighting from the Inside

About this episode

Imara Jones interviews Minnesota State Representative Leigh Finke about her experiences and challenges as a trans legislator.

This week, Imara sits down for a vulnerable conversation with Minnesota State Representative Leigh Finke, the first trans woman ever elected to the MN House of Representatives. In her time in office, Finke has focused on policies that expand housing and healthcare access and cement civil rights protections, most notably a trans refuge law that includes some of the strongest legal protections for gender-affirming care in the nation. But Rep. Finke’s time in office has been filled with turmoil. In June of last year, her friend and MN House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in a politically motivated murder. And, more recently, Minneapolis was besieged by ICE, which resulted in the killing of two citizens.  In this episode, Rep. Finke gets real about how hard it is to be a trans legislator in today’s political environment and what motivates her to keep fighting. This week’s Trans Joy features Trina Tate, an educator who develops mindfulness curricula for public school students. Send your Trans Joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org  Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok , Instagram , Threads , Bluesky , and Facebook…

People in this episode

Host: Imara Jones

Guest: Leigh Finke

Topics covered

• trans rights
• politics
• healthcare access
• civil rights
• personal stories
• legislation

Keywords

• trans woman
• Minnesota House
• civil rights protections
• trans refuge law
• politically motivated murder
• ICE
• mindfulness curricula

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TransLash Media, ICE

Places: Minnesota, Minneapolis

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• America’s Trans Migrant Crisis · June 4, 2026 · 49 min
• The Twinks vs. Dolls Olympics · May 28, 2026 · 47 min
• Resourcing Trans Dreams · May 21, 2026 · 49 min
• Trans Art Under Attack · May 14, 2026 · 57 min
• Dylan Mulvaney Is Done Being Palatable · April 30, 2026 · 49 min