Andrea Marra


Andrea Hong Marra is a Korean American politician and human rights activist who ran to represent Queens' District 13 in the New York State Senate. She used to work in communications at the Arcus Foundation. She serves on the boards of Freedom for All Americans and Just Detention International.
In November 2018, Marra was appointed executive director of Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.

Personal life

Marra was born in Seoul, South Korea and was adopted as an infant. She grew up in Albany, New York, raised by a mother who worked as a dietician. Marra came out to her parents as gay in sixth grade, and was bullied after coming out in middle school. She advocated for the Dignity for All Students Act in high school, planting her aspirations for public office.
In 2003, she took a job with GLSEN in upstate New York, and came out as transgender. She graduated from Pace University in 2008 and moved to Jackson Heights in 2009, after being attacked in her previous neighborhood due to her identity as transgender.
Marra met her birth mother as a participant of a trip to Korea organized by Nodutdol for Korean Community Development. In 2012, she authored a Huffington Post blog post telling the story of coming out as a transgender woman to her South Korean birth mother, and the post went viral.
Marra is engaged to be married. Her fiancé, Drew, is also a Korean American adoptee.

Political career

Marra has worked in LGBT advocacy at GLSEN as a publications manager, at GLAAD as a senior media strategist and, currently, Arcus Foundation. She once served on the board of the National Center for Transgender Equality.
In addition to LGBT advocacy, Marra is an advocate for Korean Unification and worked at Nodutdol.
Marra announced her candidacy for New York State Senate on February 6, 2018, citing healthcare reform, transportation, affordable housing and safety as her legislative priorities.

Awards and recognition