Please read through the nominations below and click on a button to vote one you are ready. You are encouraged, but not required to vote in all categories.
Representative Jon Rosenthal (He/Him/His) has been in Texas since 1979. Jon is happily married to his wife Aminta, and they share 2 adult children. Rep. Rosenthal earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from The University of Texas at Austin in 1991, and worked for over 25 years in and around the oil & gas industry.
Having been bullied throughout his school years, Jon learned the only way to defeat a bully is to Stand Up and Fight Back! As an early teen he became committed to combat bigotry and discrimination in all forms. Jon is always guided by his personal values of integrity, kindness, truth, compassion, and service to others.
Jon was never publicly politically active before 2017, but he viewed the results of the 2016 election as dangerous and damaging to our society. Early in 2017, Jon started an Indivisible Group in Northwest Harris County that became focused on replacing the Representative for Texas Congressional District 7, and flipping the District from Red to Blue for the first time in 50 years. The group soon grew to be over 350 members strong. Of course, CD7 is now represented by Lizzie Fletcher, and Indivisible CD7 contributed to that effort!
During 2017, as Jon learned more about Texas politics, he became committed to the fight for equity justice and inclusive representation at the State level. He left industry at the end of 2017 to run for office as a bold progressive. During 2018, Representative Rosenthal ran a grass-roots and volunteer driven campaign and was first elected in to represent Texas House District 135 in the 86th Texas Legislature, defeating a 24-year incumbent.
Since being elected, Jon has consistently been a strong and unapologetic advocate, ally, and accomplice for LGBTQiA+ communities – forwarding good bills and fighting against the constant egregious efforts to marginalize and demonize LGTBQiA+ communities. Named Freshman of the Year by the Legislative Study Group Caucus in the 86th Legislature, Rep. Rosenthal is also a strong advocate and champion for public education, for access to healthcare, for equity justice and for comprehensive criminal justice reform.
Kailey Posterick, M.Ed., LPC (she/her) is a Houston native who believes that allyship is a lifelong commitment based on consistency, trust, and accountability.
She currently works as a licensed therapist for serious offenders involved in the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department. As a therapist she is able to help youth process their trauma and develop healthy habits to reduce reoffending and achieve wellness. Her work is grounded in restorative justice and addressing the roots of judicial involvement, including poverty, bias, and systemic racism.
In addition to her work with clients, she has also trained HCJPD staff on allyship as it relates to supporting LGBTQ+ youth who are judicially-involved. In 2021 she co-created and launched a department-wide program titled, “Foundations of Equality and Equity: the HCJPD Allyship Program”. By working with both clients and staff, she hopes to influence positive institutional change through policy enhancements, training, and transformative personal relationships.
As a proud graduate of the University of St. Thomas and University of Houston, she believes in the power of educating with compassion. Beyond the workplace she has delivered numerous trainings to students, educators, mental health professionals, and law enforcement professionals since 2018. She is passionate about uplifting underserved populations such as sex workers and LGBTQ+ youth, and her trainings are designed to empower others to turn allyship feelings into advocacy actions.
In the community she is a member of the Texas Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (TxSAIGE). TxSAIGE is a division of the Texas Counseling Association (TCA), whose mission is to educate mental health providers about issues confronting the LGBTQ+ community. As a member she has attended TCA Advocacy Day to bring LGBTQ+ issues directly to the Texas Legislature. She is also the Chair of the Continuing Education Committee and is responsible for coordinating monthly continuing education courses for mental health providers. Additionally, she volunteers with Out for Education and began serving as an active member of Mayor Turner’s LGBTQ Advisory Board in 2018.
Prior to her work with Harris County, she supported one of the most diverse student bodies in the country for over 5 years as an international admissions counselor and learning abroad advisor at the University of Houston. As an advisor she created her department’s diversity and identity online resource center and hosted a series of events so that students could better understand the ways in which their identity may impact their time abroad.
She is honored by this opportunity and hopes to earn your vote for Ally Grand Marshal.
Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones is a native Texan and proud Latina who grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border. She is the daughter of teachers, who taught her the importance of education, hard work, and serving others—values that have defined her and which she now brings to the office of County Commissioner for Precinct 4.
Upon graduating with honors from Harvard University, she began her career as an 8th and 10th-grade teacher at two of the lowest-income public schools in the country. She then attended Yale Law School, where she led the Latino Law Students’ Association’s public service initiatives and provided pro-bono assistance to survivors of domestic abuse and juvenile offenders.
Commissioner Briones returned to Texas to practice law at Vinson & Elkins LLP, then served as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of the Laura & John Arnold Foundation, a major national philanthropic nonprofit. She next became the Judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4. Judge Briones was the highest-rated Harris County Civil Court at Law Judge in the 2019 Houston Bar Association (HBA) Judicial Evaluation Poll and won the 2020 HBA Judicial Preference Poll. Commissioner Briones co-founded the statewide nonprofit Texas Latinx Judges and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.
Now, as a county commissioner, her mission is to advance opportunity and justice for all people. Commissioner Briones’ ultimate goal is for her three daughters – and all children – to have a bright future in which they have the tools they need to succeed and are empowered to be their authentic selves.
In her first 100 days as Commissioner, a unanimous vote approved her nominee, Dr. Cody Pyke (she/they), to the Harris Health System Board of Trustees. Dr. Pyke made history as the first openly transgender and nonbinary individual to serve on the nine-member board.
Commissioner Briones introduced a motion that established the first LGBTQIA+ Commission in Harris County. Commissioner Briones received the Eleanor Tinsley Ally Award from the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus for her commitment to supporting civil rights for the LGBTQIA+ community.
