Amber "Bennie" Taylor

Amber “Bennie” lives in Cookeville Tennessee, where they spend their time working as a youth organizer for a nonprofit, training to be a birthing and postpartum doula, and raising their two children. They have the lived experience-similar to many other tennesseans-of continuously facing unnecessary obstacles to resources that are essential for their family's well-being. They took their experiences and turned it into action through advocacy work, and, through their work in their community, began building a foundation for sustainable and effective change. Through that work, It became their mission to provide better access to resources for people in small towns and in rural areas of Tennessee. Now more than ever, they see the need to step into the political arena and be in the spaces where the policies affecting those people are enacted. Bennie knows that Reproductive Rights are human rights, and forced birth is an attack on these rights. Bennie plans to fight against the harmful legislation that attacks the LGBTQIA+ and trans community, including trans youth. Because the leading cause of death of people under the age of 18 in Tennessee is due to gun violence, Bennie believes that Common Sense gun laws could change that and save lives. They are passionate about bringing humanity and compassion into politics, so the policies that are passed truly represent the needs of the people. Their progressive policies are not only a vision of moving forward, but also a vision of bringing the community together.