Precious Brady-Davis

Precious Brady-Davis
Member of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 12, 2023
Preceded byKimberly du Buclet
Personal details
Born1985 (age 38–39)
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln
Columbia College Chicago (BA)

Precious Brady-Davis (born 1985)[1] is an American politician. She is commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), a Chief Strategy Officer at the Center on Halsted, a transgender author,[2] and a climate change[3] and LGBT rights activist.[3][1] She wrote the best-selling book I Have Always Been Me.[3]

Biography

Brady-Davis was born in Omaha, Nebraska,[1] and was in foster care as a toddler.[3][1] At age five, she moved in with her grandfather and his wife.[3][1] In high school, she started to explore her identity.[3][1]

Brady-Davis attended the University of Nebraska.[1] While living in Lincoln, Nebraska, she began performing drag using the name "Precious Jewel".[1] She later transferred to Columbia College Chicago.[1] While in Chicago, she came out as gay.[3][1] Living in Boystown, she made a name for herself as a performance artist.[3] She launched a US$1.6 million dollar CDC HIV Prevention program at Chicago's Center on Halsted, an LGBT community center.[4][3][1] There, she was also a mentor of LGBT teens.[3]

She and her husband Myles Brady-Davis had a baby girl in 2019.[3] They became the first transgender couple to have their gender identities listed correctly on an Illinois birth certificate.[3][5] They live in Hyde Park.[3] She currently works as a Chief Strategy Officer at the Center on Halsted and is on the Board of Commissioners at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. She is also a nationally-known speaker and activist.[6][3][1]

In July 2023, she became the first black trans woman to be appointed to a commissioner position at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.[7]

Publications

Brady-Davis' memoir I Have Always Been Me was a best-selling biography on Amazon.[3]

Filmography

Brady-Davis was a consulting producer for The Lady and the Dale.[2] She was also featured on TLC's My Pregnant Husband. Additionally, she appeared on Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta on Season 9, Episode 5 "Are You Ready to Play Bridal Blitz?"[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kaufman, Alexander C. (June 5, 2019). "Precious Brady-Davis Is Connecting The Dots". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Clifton, Derrick (February 12, 2021). "Activist Precious Brady-Davis Reclaims Her Identity as a Black, Trans Woman in New Memoir". Them. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Schoenberg, Nara (July 18, 2021). "Precious Brady-Davis, who broke barriers as the first transgender mom to be correctly gendered on an Illinois birth certificate, tells her story in a new memoir". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "Precious Brady-Davis (D)". WTTW. 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  5. ^ Schoenberg, Nara (January 14, 2020). "In a first for Illinois, transgender man who gave birth will be listed as the father on his baby's birth certificate". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023. Arnold said via email that the birth certificate will be a first for Illinois, and the state is working to make accurate gender identification a permanent option easily available to all transgender parents.
  6. ^ Schoenberg, Nara (July 17, 2019). "'We're pregnant!': High-profile transgender couple Myles and Precious Brady Davis are expecting their first child". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  7. ^ Rivera, Mark (July 12, 2023). "First ever Black trans woman water reclamation district commissioner sworn in". abc7chicago.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.