Estefan Cortes-Vargas

Estefan Cortes-Vargas (born Estefania Cortes-Vargas, 1991) is a Colombian-born Canadian politician and non-profit administrator who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electoral district of Strathcona-Sherwood Park as a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party.[1] Upon election, they became one of the first three out LGBT people elected to the Alberta legislature, alongside caucus colleagues Michael Connolly and Ricardo Miranda.[2]

Estefan Cortes-Vargas
Cortes-Vargas in 2015
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Strathcona-Sherwood Park
In office May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019
Preceded by	Dave Quest
Succeeded by	Nate Glubish
Personal details
Born	1990 or 1991 (age 32–33) Colombia
Political party	Alberta New Democratic Party
Occupation	Non-Profit Administrator

Although Cortes-Vargas was represented in media coverage during the election campaign as female and lesbian,[2] in December 2015, they formally came out as non-binary in the legislature during debate on the inclusion of transgender rights in the provincial human rights code.[3] While the provincial Hansard normally reports members' speeches under the gender honorifics "Mr." or "Ms.", Cortes-Vargas was recorded as "Member Cortes-Vargas".[3] They chose not to run in the 2019 Alberta general election.[4]

In 2019, Cortes-Vargas was named executive director of the Pride Centre of Edmonton.[5] They remained in that role until July 2020 when they became the new executive director for OUTSaskatoon.[6] They have been the vice-president of the Enchanté Network, which is a coalition of 2SLGBTQ+ community organizations across Canada, since 2020. In September 2022, they started their studies to become a lawyer at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in Saskatoon.