Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) isnt afraid of bullies, not when she has already fought (and won) the hardest battle of her life.For three years, Craig and her former partner worked to convince the Tennessee courts that being gay did not disqualify them from retaining custody of their son, Josh, whom theyd raised from infancy after his birth mother selected them to adopt him. Related He won marriage rights for same-sex couples in Utah. Now hes running for Congress. Josh is now 28 years old with a toddler of his own, but Craig says that, even all these decades later, the ferocious mama-bear energy she needed to win the right to be his mother lives on.Right now, shes using that energy to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota after already making history as the first lesbian mom in the House of Representatives. Craig has served in Congress since 2019, when she eked out a victory despite running in a Republican stronghold that had only sent two Democrats to Congress since the 1940s. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today She has since proved her staying power. Despite once being considered one of the Houses most vulnerable incumbents, she won her most recent reelection in a landslide and is currently serving her fourth term.LGBTQ Nation spoke with Craig about her secret to connecting with conservative voters many of whom evidence suggests voted for both her and Donald Trump in 2024 as well as her thoughts on the best way forward in these politically tumultuous times. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.LGBTQ Nation: In your campaign announcement video, you spoke about your battle to adopt your son. Why did you include it? What about that battle shaped the way you see your fight against the Trump administration?Rep. Angie Craig: I got up every single day for almost 3 years, and my partner and I didnt know whether we would have our son to put to bed that night. So every fight Ive taken on from a district that had been in Republican hands for three-quarters of a century is kept in check by the fact that Ive already fought the hardest fight of my entire life. I will always stand up to bullies, and this administration is bullying communities that we care deeply about, like the immigrant community, like the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly our trans neighbors.Your battle to adopt Josh took place in Tennessee, which was also at the center of U.S. v. Skrmetti, the recent SCOTUS case that greenlit state gender-affirming care bans. After all this time, Tennessee parents are still fighting to have power over their own kids, albeit in different ways. Does your journey with Josh give you hope that this anti-trans hysteria might take a similar arc?My life experience has been that [we find success] if we build support with our neighbors. It wasnt that long ago where Republicans tried to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota through a constitutional amendment, and we went neighbor by neighbor, we went faith group by faith group building support for the fact that love is love. I think that theres an opportunity in America to do the same with trans issues, but we have to understand that we have to go do the work to help people understand that folks who are trans are our neighbors as well. Most people have never met a trans person in their life, and so we have to go do the hard work of building support in our communities.Some Democrats seem lost on how to talk about trans rights, and especially the sports debate, where some are feeling more emboldened to side with Republicans. Where do you fall on that, and how do you think Democrats need to handle trans issues in the upcoming elections?I think we have to acknowledge that [the sports] issue in particular by many people is seen as a fairness issue, right? I personally believe that parents, local sports associations, and our local schools are best equipped to make those decisions. Thats exactly why Ive never supported a nationwide blanket ban that Ive been asked to support as a member of Congress. I think as we have those conversations within our local communities, we can help others understand. You talked about gender-affirming care a moment ago. Its not a conversation that any politician should be anywhere near. Republicans like to talk about parents rights, but you know, there is no politician in a better position to make those very personal decisions for the trans community than the people who are actually involved, including their parents.You also just reintroduced a bill to protect LGBTQ+ foster kids from discrimination, which has been introduced many times before. Why was now the right time to bring that back? Are these kids facing outsized challenges under Trump?Well, certainly every member of the LGBTQ community is feeling outside pressure because of the Trump administration. I think that we have to continue to push for the rights of LGBTQ Americans even in the face of the headwind coming from this administration. We should use this time to build community support for many of our issues. There will be a time, and I believe it will be soon, when Democrats take back the majority in this country in the House, in the Senate, and the White House. So as Democrats, we need to be building the support from our communities now while we push back strong against the Trump administration.That legislation also talks about rights for same-sex couples who want to foster and adopt. Do you feel especially connected to that due to your fight for Josh?Yeah, this is a really personal piece of legislation to me. Josh was 4 months old when he came to live with us. His birth mother placed him in our home, and again, for almost 3 years after we didnt know, are we going to be able to raise this child that we put to bed every single night or if the state of Tennessee was going to rip him away from us. This 4-month-old baby is now a 28-year-old young man who is married, and he and his wife decided that they wanted their first child to be adopted. So theyre raising our grandson, Wyatt, and hes just this amazing little boy.This fight was so personal to me, and its a fight that Im sorry that were still having to go through that many years later in places throughout our country. I would love to be able to be part of changing that forever, where no one whos LGBTQ ever has to fight this fight again.Now that your sons are adults and youve seen the men theyve become, what do you think were some of the biggest benefits for them of being men raised by two moms? Our sons have been raised to treat women respectfully. Theyve been raised to know what love is and what a strong family looks like, and so we just couldnt be more proud of our boys as they become men and, most importantly, I think we showed them what its like to love our kids unconditionally. I see in our two sons who now have boys of their own I see the kind of parents that our sons are and just how involved they are in the little things the diaper changing and the getting up with them.What they saw was love, and inside a family, I think theres nothing more important you can teach your children than that.Youre known for your bipartisanship. What have you learned from working across the aisle that can help you fight the Trump administration? Do you feel like its still possible to work alongside Republicans?At this moment in time, Ive got one fist closed, which is fighting the policies that are detrimental to our communities, and Ive got my other hand extended, looking for ways in which Republicans might still be willing to work alongside a Democrat. But unfortunately, with this administration, theres more fist than hand extended because of the attacks that they are laying out on so many of our communities.I think the most important thing as a member of Congress to know is when to work with folks and when to fight. Ill give you a couple of examples. I was the first swing district Democrat in the country to come out in favor of Donald Trumps first impeachment because he had committed impeachable offenses, and I thought that would cost me my first re-elect. This seat had been in Republican hands for three-quarters of a century. Political operatives told me, This might cost you your first re-elect, and I did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.Two years before Joe Bidens debate that people talk about causing him to drop out of the presidential race, I was among only three sitting elected representatives in the country to call for Joe Biden not to run for reelection, and I was the 4th Democrat in the country to call for it after that disastrous debate. I think what Ive proven during my time in the House, and what I will continue to prove as a US Senator, is Im going to do what is right for our communities, and Im going to tell people the truth, no matter who it pisses off from time to time.The truth is the establishment in D.C. didnt really think I was the best candidate to run and win in a seat that Republicans had held for three-quarters of a century, and we proved them wrong, and Im going to keep doing what I think is right in the U.S. Senate just like Ive done in the House.Youve also seemed to crack the code on connecting as a Democrat with rural voters. Whats your secret? Well, the first secret is just to show up and listen to them. If you sit down with a group of family farmers right now, theyll tell you that input costs are high. What does that mean? It means that Trumps tariffs are driving up costs for everybody to be able to farm these days. And then, of course, their trade war has also meant that they actually cant sell their soybeans once theyre grown. So just showing up and listening to what other people are concerned about and then working on those issues.I talk about my own family just like any other person who was serving in elected office would, but Im more interested in whats happening in their families and what their family struggles are, and if you do that and they know that thats your heart, what weve proven is theyll vote for you.Looking to 2028, if Democrats do manage to take back the House and gain more power in the Senate, what are some of the first steps to undoing the damage of the past two years? Themost important first step is just oversight on this administration, and thats what taking back the House would give us. It would give us subpoena powers to be able to look into, in particular, the corruption thats going on inside this administration, the family ties to Trump, as well.At the end of the day, if we take back the House, we should work on what we promised voters we will work on. How are we going to make healthcare more affordable for their families? How are we going to make sure that the trade war ends so that grocery costs come down, that our family farmers get back their markets?We need to work on the things that we tell people that were going to do for them, and if we can do that, then people will continue to elect Democrats in this country.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.