Transgender lawyer announces candidacy for Oklahoma House

Transgender lawyer Brittany Novotny of Oklahoma City officially announced her candidacy on Sunday to represent House District 84.

Novotny will face three-term incumbent Republican state Rep. Sally Kern, who achieved national notoriety when she declared homosexuality is "destroying this nation" in comments she made to a group of fellow GOP lawmakers.

Novotny made her announcement at a press meeting in Oklahoma City, where House District 84 lies.

"It's a really exciting time to be an Oklahoman," she said.

CBS News 9 in Oklahoma City described Novotny as a "controversial candidate" with an "equally controversially" opponent. The station further concluded the HD 84 election will likely become "one of the state's most publicized House races."

Novotny said her campaign will focus on education and infrastructure and how improvements in each area will lead to what she concluded is higher employment and a better quality of life for Oklahomans. Novotny added she feels the construction of the Ford Center that paved the way for the Oklahoma City Thunder and other past-infrastructure investments have begun to pay off.

"Just last year, we found ourselves joining the ranks of "Big League Cities" as we welcomed the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Ford Center, and we're not done yet," she proclaimed.

Novotny continued.

"These projects will create jobs, improve our quality of life, encourage local economic development, and help us draw even more good jobs to the area," she said.

Novotny conceded, however, not everything in the Sooner State "looks quite so rosy." She pointed to an increase in Oklahoma's unemployment rate and the skyrocketing cost of health care as additional problems. And Novotny singled out GOP lawmakers in Oklahoma City.

"Several prominent Republican leaders in the State House have appeared more interested in stoking division and fear, rather than working toward bi-partisan solutions to the issues facing hard working Oklahomans," she said.

Novotny further accused Kern of not focusing on local issues. She further described her socially conservative opponent as "out of touch" with her constituency.

"Instead of working on legislation to address [education], Rep. Kern found time to craft House Concurrent Resolution 1033, a resolution to condemn the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child," Novotny said. "Such resolutions have no practical impact on our day to day lives [in District 84.]"

Novotny said, "Such resolutions have no practical impact on our day to day lives [in District 84]."