Joseph Romero believes equality is not a slogan. It is a responsibility. Every New Mexican deserves to live with dignity, safety, and opportunity, regardless of who they are or who they love. As an attorney, Joseph has represented LGBTQ clients and seen firsthand the legal and personal challenges the community faces. As a neighbor, he has built a home that is a safe and welcoming space for the LGBTQ family members and friends in his life. As HD-14’s representative, he will turn that commitment into action.

Lead with community, not for it.

Joseph will build formal, ongoing channels of collaboration with LGBTQ community members, advocates, and organizations, not just on LGBTQ-specific issues, but on every policy area where the community has a stake: housing, healthcare, employment, education, and public safety. The people most affected by a law should be at the table before it’s written, not after.

Protect personal data and personal privacy.

Joseph supports strong, community-driven data privacy protections with no carve-outs for large corporations. Every New Mexican deserves real control over how their personal information is collected, used, and shared, with meaningful enforcement and the right to hold violators accountable.

Tackle housing and addiction as connected crises.

LGBTQ New Mexicans are disproportionately affected by homelessness and substance use. Joseph will fight to fully fund evidence-based treatment, expand transitional and supportive housing, and ensure LGBTQ individuals have access to services that are safe, non-discriminatory, and culturally competent. Recovery and stability require both.

Put people over corporate profits.

Joseph will push back against private equity takeovers of New Mexico’s healthcare and utilities, demand transparency in ownership and pricing, and support real consequences for corporate actors who put profits over patients and consumers. No one should be denied care, priced out, or marginalized because of who they are.

Govern through an intersectional lens.

LGBTQ New Mexicans are workers, parents, patients, students, and taxpayers. Joseph will approach every policy by asking who benefits, who could be unintentionally harmed, and how historical inequities should shape the solution. Listening first is the foundation of getting it right.

Lead. Don’t follow.

New Mexico should be willing to set the standard, not just copy what other states have done. Joseph will learn from what works elsewhere, but he believes our state has the strength and the responsibility to blaze trails on equality and civil rights when our communities need us to.

Joseph Romero will stand with the LGBTQ community in every policy, every session, every fight.