Lexington’s 4th District Councilwoman Emma Curtis poses for a photo in her office at City Hall in Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Isabella Sepahban/The Watchdog

Emma Curtis sits on the floor of her living room, surrounded by hot pink and punk rock.

As she writes thank you letters to constituents, Paramore plays from her speakers, the light from her TV screen reflecting in the many picture frames and glossy posters placed on the solid pink walls of her apartment.

Her office in City Hall is no different.

Besides two desks for herself and her legislative aid, Curtis’s office features a dark green wall, covered in an array of music posters, flyers and photographs– a reminder of both who she is and where her love for political justice came from.

“I’ve had so many people, in the time that I’ve been involved in politics, tell me to tone it down,” Curtis said. “I’m never gonna hide who I am.”

Lexington’s 4th District Councilwoman Emma Curtis responds to work emails at her home in Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Isabella Sepahban/The Watchdog

‘The most punk rock thing you can do’

Growing up on her family’s tobacco farm, Curtis said she learned about environmentalism at a young age.

At 16 months old, Curtis’s father passed away from lung cancer. Years later, Curtis said she learned his cancer was caused by unregulated pesticides that were used on his childhood farm.

“That type of experience of loss early on . . . instilled in me a pretty harsh environmentalist viewpoint from a young age,” Curtis said.

Curtis said she was heavily impacted by her grandfather’s role on the Mercer County school board, recalling the time when there was discourse among the board regarding desegregating and integrating the Mercer County public school systems.

Curtis’s grandfather ended up casting the deciding vote to desegregate the school system– a decision that caused him to lose his seat.

“The thing I learned from that was that there is always something that’s worth losing over,” Curtis said. “You have to do the right thing, not the politically convenient thing.”

According to Curtis, she originally did not want a career in government because she had spent so much time around it growing up. Besides her grandfather’s role in local government, Curtis’s mother worked for former governor Wallace Wilkinson, and her uncle worked for former governor Steve Beshear.

“I wanted nothing to do with it,” Curtis said, “because I could see people who were so nice to me on a personal level turn into distortions of themselves as a result of this type of work.”

Because of this, Curtis chose to study film at Centre College, wanting to make a difference through the arts first, rather than government lobbying.

“I decided I wanted to make a positive change, but I was gonna have to do it from the outside,” Curtis said. “I wanted to do it through films, through punk rock, through cultural change.”

Creating films centered around social issues and participating in protests on campus, Curtis said, made her feel seen and heard– something she was not used to growing up.

“When you’re a very isolated, closeted, young, queer kid in a conservative area, something like punk rock, something like access to the arts, is literally life saving,” Curtis said.

However, as more anti-trans policies started entering Kentucky legislation, Curtis realized she had to become more involved.

“I recognized that I was a trans person who had experience in that field,” Curtis said. “I knew these people and I wasn’t scared of them, the way that a lot of trans people justifiably are.”

As Curtis became more involved in lobbying, she realized the possibility of making a difference as a trans woman from within the government, rather than outside.

“That made me understand that sometimes, it is actually the most punk rock thing you can do, to engage with your government directly,” Curtis said. “Be that as just a citizen who’s trying to talk to a legislator, or as a candidate for public office.”

Lexington’s 4th District Councilwoman Emma Curtis, center, and her legislative aid, Sarah Ritter, left, meet with a constituent while touring a church in Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Isabella Sepahban/The Watchdog

Becoming Councilwoman

Curtis said she decided to run for Lexington’s 4th District in 2023, after previously running for the Democratic nomination for the Kentucky House of Representatives and losing.

“When I came up short there, all of a sudden I could see myself in public office,” Curtis said. “I took a look at what the Councilmember at the time was doing, how she was voting, how little she was showing up to City Hall and decided, ‘Well, if nobody else is going to challenge her, then I will. I could do a better job.’ And so I did.”

After months of canvassing and connecting with her community, Curtis was elected as Lexington’s 4th District Councilmember in 2024.

According to Sarah Ritter, Curtis’s campaign manager and legislative aid, no two days are the same working with Curtis.

“Some days I’m just answering emails and phone calls and then other days we’re crazy busy out in the district or going to events,” Ritter said. “I’m not a stationary person, so it’s been nice to just be out and do stuff.”

Ritter said the two met through Young Democrats of America and continued their friendship from there. When Curtis decided to run for Council, Ritter was brought on as her campaign manager.

“We were birds of a feather and thought very similarly in a lot of ways,” Ritter said. “But also, we don’t agree on everything, so we were a good balance for each other.”

As Curtis’s legislative aid, Ritter said she has enjoyed being able to speak to community members and concerned constituents.

“We can’t always fix people’s problems, but I think just knowing that your government cares about you is important to people,” Ritter said.

Alongside working for her, Ritter said she and Curtis are good friends– a quality that makes it easier for the two to work even better as a team.

According to Ritter, there is an understanding that if anyone with a concern comes to either her or Curtis, the issue will be fixed.

“She is extremely compassionate, and she cares so much about her constituents and everybody in Lexington,” Ritter said. “A lot of times on Council, you get wrapped up into issues that are happening in other districts. She has made a point to make sure that she puts as much energy into those issues as she does with issues in her own district.”

Lexington’s 4th District Councilwoman Emma Curtis and 6th District Councilwoman Lisa Higgins-Hord speak to constituents before a City Hall meeting at City Hall in Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Isabella Sepahban/The Watchdog

According to Curtis, the past year and a half of work has been both isolating and overwhelming, saying it has been especially rough learning how to govern under current federal legislation.

“In the time that I’ve been in office, so much of what I ran on has been compromised by the Trump administration’s stranglehold on municipalities, and our loss of federal funding, and our loss of state funding,” Curtis said. “I’ve had to try to not only learn how to govern as a first-time elected official, but have this sort of trial by fire of learning how to govern under outright duress from other branches of government.”

Curtis said there is a current crisis of apathy, both in Lexington and the US as a whole, where people do not believe that government can be a force for good in their lives.

“I don’t agree with that. I think that oftentimes, the government is a force for negativity, for the oppression of people, especially working people, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ folks,” Curtis said. “But I also think that at the same time, we’re seeing across the country, especially the local level, that we can have real victories that make life better for people.”

Curtis said she believes it is important to meet people where they are at. Sometimes this means taking on an issue without fixing it immediately.

“I can’t necessarily solve all the problems, but I can show up for my constituents,” Curtis said.

In June 2026, Curtis collaborated with community partner Dahlhus Fudge to pay off almost $13,000 of school debt for Fayette County Public Schools.

“That makes a tangible difference in their lives, even if it’s not traditionally something a Councilmember would do,” Curtis said.

But even after these successes, Curtis seldom takes a break.

“I always feel like there’s more to do,” Curtis said. “This is the type of work that never ends, and so I honestly need to do a better job of stopping and celebrating these victories when they happen because there is so much negativity and so much loss in the world of politics.”

Curtis said she is proud of the work her office and Council has done over the past year and a half, but she still believes there are some major issues that need to be tackled– specifically AI usage in government and policing, as well as the potential impact of data centers in Fayette County.

“This technology is going to exist one way or another,” Curtis said. “The very least we can do is try to safeguard the privacy of sensitive data pertaining to the government and to Lexington residents, and to communicate what Lexington is doing with AI, when we’re doing it, and why we’re doing it.”

Lexington’s 4th District Councilwoman Emma Curtis poses for a photo in her office at City Hall in Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Isabella Sepahban/The Watchdog

Never a dim light

A self-identified emo, Curtis said much of her passion for political change is rooted in the punk rock music she grew up listening to. According to Curtis, covering parts of your identity often leads to burnout, especially amongst elected officials and activists.

“I will often joke that I grew up raging against the machine and I’ve spent the past year and a half raging within the machine,” Curtis said.

Growing up a closeted queer individual in a small town, Curtis said she was unable to see transgender people in her community who were unashamed of their identity.

According to Curtis, she felt as though she had to go somewhere else to feel confident in her identity as a trans woman. Over the years, Curtis said she has learned she can be confident in her identity anytime, regardless of where she is.

For Curtis, one of the most difficult parts of her job is speaking with young queer and transgender individuals and their parents about current federal and state anti-trans legislation.

“If a kid comes to you and they tell you that they don’t feel like they have a future, something’s not right,” Curtis said. “I can’t stop all of this on my own, but I can do what I can to show that, ‘Yes, I’m trans, and?’ It’s not, ‘I’m trans, but.’ You can be proud of yourself, and you can still succeed.”

Curtis said there can be a lot of pressure when it comes to being an LGBTQ Councilmember in a city that has historically been an “LGBTQ safe haven.”

However, rather than letting it put her down, Curtis said she uses this as motivation to inspire queer kids and serve as a role model for them.

“If I were to back away from that now, what kind of message would that send to those kids?” Curtis said. “I’m not gonna tell those kids that if they want to succeed, they need to change who they are. I don’t ever wanna dim a kid’s spark.”