Olivia Hill Sworn in to Nashville Metro Council and Becomes First Out Trans Official in Tennessee

Olivia Hill was sworn in Monday evening as a member of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County, becoming the first out transgender elected official in Tennessee.

Hill was elected September 14 as an at-large member of the council, which means she represents the entire city. She is also part of a council that has, for the first time, a majority of women.

“Representation is everything,” Hill said at the ceremony, Nashville TV station WSMV reports. “I’ve been approached by so many moms and dads and teachers and leaders that have thanked me for running because now a lot of the trans community has someone to see.”

“I paid a heavy price for my transition, and I’ve lost most of my family, my friends, my career, and so many people that stand beside me,” she continued. But some family members, including a cousin, attended the ceremony, as did friends and supporters of Hill.

“And for the very first time since I transitioned, I stand before you to celebrate something special with my family present,” she said. “I ran this race as a qualified human, I didn’t run this race as a trans woman, I didn’t run this race as the first trans woman or as a woman at all. I only ran this race to showcase my experience and for a right to sit at the table.”

Hill, a Nashville native and longtime LGBTQ+ advocate, was in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 1995 and served in combat during Operation Desert Storm. After leaving the military, she worked at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She spent 26 years at the university’s power plant, retiring in December 2021 as its senior supervisor.

She transitioned during her time at Vanderbilt, but she ended up suing the university, alleging she faced extensive discrimination as she was going through the process. She filed suit in September 2021, and she and Vanderbilt agreed to a settlement three months later.

Hill also received honors from Vanderbilt, including the Chancellor’s Heart and Soul Award in 2019 and the citation as one of three LGBTQ Advocates of the Year by the university’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Life in 2020.

Hill’s priorities on the council will include improving infrastructure, with expansion of the city’s public transportation system high on her list. “I tried my best to run as a qualified human,” Hill toldThe Tennessean. “The fact that I’m trans is just a part of who I am. I’m here to help fix the broken parts of Nashville.”

But, she said, “I don’t want to be a bull in a china shop. I want to go in. I want to meet with all the department heads. Start learning where the problems are and come up with the best solutions.”

Along the way, she will provide trans visibility in a state that has seen a rash of anti-trans legislation passed, including a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. A federal appeals court recently ruled that the ban can be enforced while a lawsuit against it is heard.

“I just want to go in there and get busy,” Hill told The Tennessean. “And what that will do is the trans kids will be like ‘Wow, she’s doing it.’ I know there’s going to be people watching me, waiting on me to fail.”