Out Colorado candidate on the hidden power of young people & why Trump is a threat to the planet

In Colorado, a rare occurrence in politics is unfolding as one half of a married couple is running to succeed the other in elected office.

Kyra deGruy Kennedy, a bisexual community organizer, yogini, former healthcare worker, and principal in a political and business consulting firm, is running to replace her husband, Chris Kennedy, currently the Speaker pro tempore in the Colorado House.

Related:

Out lawmaker Evan Low explains how dismantling the GOP could save the world

The “gay as f**k” Congressional candidate told LGBTQ Nation about his “hard work and grit” and why he loves representing his constituents.

Kennedy is passionate about healthcare, gun violence, the climate, and equity and was strikingly candid discussing what’s formed her policy priorities should she be elected in November.

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She spoke with LGBTQ Nation from her home in Colorado’s House District 30, where the couple lives with their 2-year-old daughter in the suburbs west of Denver.

LGBTQ NATION: Help me pronounce your name.

KYRA DEGRUY KENNEDY: Kyra, like Shakira. And then deGruy, like “degree”, like a college degree.

You’re about to turn 34. The Young Invincibles, the advocacy group where you served as a director for 3 years, is composed of young people 18-34, so you’re aging out. What’s the thing you’ll miss most about being a young activist?

(laughing) This is my swan song! It’s time to go and pass the torch to somebody else.

The thing I’ll miss the most, I think, is just the people. You know, our culture says young people are lazy and not engaged and don’t care, and that’s just so wrong. They have so much energy, and they’re changing the world, and it’s so inspiring to have gotten to work with them for several years and watch them do that.

What’s the most surprising thing you learned from that group?

Gosh, I learned so much from them. I think watching their courage and resilience and willingness to be deeply vulnerable about things they’re not comfortable with. It makes me want to cry. It changed me.

Have you heard of something called widow’s succession?

(laughing) Yes.

You’re not a widow, but you are running for a seat that your husband, Speaker pro tem of the Colorado House, Chris Kennedy, is vacating. And just to be clear, he is termed out.

laughing) That’s right. And I’m not challenging him!

How did you end up running for his seat?

We actually met in politics. The mayor of our city actually introduced us and so we kind of fell in love over politics. And I’ve been able to be his partner for most of his career and have watched both the struggles and the incredible beauty of how much good he gets to do. He has been an incredible teacher to me, and vice versa. And so our team, our political team, gets to continue. We’re a little different. We’re all different. We have different strengths, but our values are really similar, so it made a lot of sense.

What’s one of the differences?

From a personal perspective, we’re real different. I am kind of classically a “feeler”, and he’s classically a “thinker.” And so we see things really differently. You know, when there are shootings, he jumps right into action, and I jump right into grief and have to process before I think about what’s next. We just process the world completely differently.

What are your top three policy goals if you get to the statehouse?

I’m really trying to create whole health for everybody in the state. So, changing the way that we do healthcare, putting the person in the center of all the resources, looking at social determinants of health, and putting physical and behavioral health care around them appropriately.

Gun violence. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old, and I’m terrified to leave her anywhere. Every time I drop her off at school in the morning, you’ve got that moment when you sit in the car, and it’s like, “Is this the last time I’m gonna see her?” And so doing everything that we can about gun violence.

And similarly with climate change. We are doing a lot of stuff, but we can do a lot more to make sure that my kid has a future, that older kids have a future.

You describe yourself as a “systems-thinking policy wonk.” Explain that in a non-wonky description.

My experience has been with a lot of our systems. I had a weird adolescence, and so I’ve had experience with healthcare failures and education failures and corrections failures and treatment failures. With policy, we often try to solve for symptoms, whereas I’m seeing systemic barriers — the foundational problems that we founded this country on, frankly. These need to be dismantled in order to create equity, rather than just trying to run another program to solve for a problem that is related to that.

You’ve said, “My north star has always been equity.” When and how did you come to that realization?

Oh, I actually remember the moment well. I had tried to kill myself when I was a teen, twice. The second time, I went into an institution. At the time, I also had some other stuff going on — obviously, because you don’t try to kill yourself without stuff going on. And what I noticed was, the experience that I was having — I was put into a hospital with a bunch of white kids — for the same experience, for the same lived experience, my Black and brown friends went to jail.

It shook me because I had grown up in privilege, and I had not experienced that kind of stark inequity. And it completely changed me and it helped me to really dig into what is wrong and the racism that’s embedded in our systems.

People in the rest of the country might be surprised to learn that Colorado uses a caucus format for many of its elections, including yours coming up on March 9. What do you like and not like about that?

It’s a mixed bag. What I don’t like about it is that it’s very hard to get people to turn out for anything, even if they’re excited about the race. But what’s powerful about it is that it really gives the community the opportunity to hear their voices and what they want. Often by the time you get to a primary election or general election, the money that has come into politics has already decided that. And so this feels like a way to actually get community involvement with who’s on the ballot rather than corporate interests.

In your announcement that you’ve earned an endorsement from the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Victory Fund, you said, “If elected, I’ll be the first queer and LGBTQ+ representative from the district!” Can you describe how you first came to identify as LGBTQ+?

I had family that was really loving and really accepting, which is weird, because I grew up in Mobile, Alabama. So, you kind of imagine in the Bible Belt that that would not be the case, but my oldest sister was 10 years older than me, and before I started dating, she had brought home girlfriends to our house. And so it was just normal, in my mind, and so when I started dating women, it was normal.

I was attracted to women before I was attracted to men, and then I was violently raped by a man. And so for a number of years, I was not at all interested in men. But, you know, I did some therapy and realized that I’m here and bisexual and sometimes that means you’re never straight enough, or gay enough, and that’s fine. I’m happy living in that space.

Define what you call “servant leadership.”

In leading young people who have had hard lives and mentoring young people who have had hard lives, I think what I’ve learned is that it’s my job to create and hold a container for people. It’s not really my job to try to get something from them. It’s my job to meet them and learn from them and help them find a path for what works for both of us, what we’re both trying to collectively accomplish. So servant leadership has a lot to do with staying in that mindset, staying in curiosity and staying in this willingness to help others as we’re moving toward a goal together.

Tell me about the name of your consulting firm, Ahimsa, which in Sanskrit means “without injury” or “non-violence”

One of the tenets of yoga is non-violence. And my path has been deeply aided by yoga — how to live, how to show up, and how to be the kind of person that you want to be. Non-violence has been a huge part of that for me. The consulting work that I do is primarily in health and healing and wellness and the social determinants of health, and so it felt like a good name.

You’ve earned a living as a certified yoga therapist and a Reiki Master. Now that you’re a candidate for office, describe your yoga practice and how it fits into your daily routine.

I generally do between 45 minutes and an hour of Kundalini yoga in the morning every day. For the last two weeks, there were probably two or three days that I didn’t, and everyone noticed. My daughter and everybody’s like, “Ooo, maybe yoga would be good” (laughing). So it’s a daily part of my life. And I think will continue to be forever. It’s how I manage my mental health.

What’s the single most important thing — one single thing — that the world should do to address climate change?

I think lovingly to pay attention. We’re not paying attention, and I think if we were, and we were willing to do it in a lens that was not self-shaming, but instead was curious and interested and loving and remembering that we love the Earth, that things would really shift.

What is the greater threat to the planet? Climate change or a second term for Donald Trump?

I mean, they’re really synonymous, right? We need action now from leaders who believe in the truth and base their policy on truth, and if we elect Donald Trump, we will continue to see climate change grow, and quicken even.

I mean, I think we’re gonna see the same things that we’ve been seeing. And if Donald Trump doesn’t win, we still have to get our s**t together (laughing). There’s still work we can do as Democrats!

I saw a video with you and your toddler daughter singing songs at a Saturday morning story time at your local library. What’s your very favorite song to sing with her, and what’s the absolute worst?

So now she is loving Feelin’ Groovy, (singing) “Da na na na na na na na…“

Oh gosh, one of my favorites.

And it is beautiful. She knows all the words. It’s like the best, so that would be the favorite.

And she still likes Baby Shark (laughing), so that would be the worst. 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the second openly gay governor elected in the U.S., is popular with our readers, as he is with Colorado voters. Have you spent much time with him, and can you share a memorable moment you’ve had together?

I wouldn’t say we’ve spent much time together — mostly at bill signings for policies I’ve worked on, but he’s always pronounced my name right, which very rarely happens, and I love him for that. And when I had my daughter, he sent us literally the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen. I’ve worked closely with several members of his staff over the years, and they’re all fantastic. 

You may or may not know that the governor was once a member of the Princeton Juggling Club. Can you comment on that, and do you have any secret talents of your own?

I did not know he was a secret juggler! That’s incredible, and I will be asking for a demo.

Not sure if this counts as a talent or a problem, but I have a real knack for talking my husband into adopting animals with me. We currently have two dogs, two cats, two goats, and five chickens. 

I’ve seen the goat pen at home. That looks very fun. Who is meaner? The average goat or Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert?

100% Lauren Boebert.

The goats are actually delightful, and I think, hopefully, the voters will agree with many of the people in Colorado and decide that this is Lauren Boebert’s last year.

What’s the best thing about living in Colorado?

Nature, and being close to nature. And the people here who appreciate it.

What do you look forward to most in your new job if you’re elected in November?

Bringing young folks to the building, bringing them onto the floor and helping them see that this is possible for their futures, too.