NEIL RAFFERTY is an American politician and current member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing District 54. Winning his seat in the 2018 elections — with 90% of the vote — Rafferty assumed office on November 7, 2018.

He was re-elected to his position in 2022. Rafferty is a member of the Democratic Party.

Rafferty is a former member of the United States Marine Corps and veteran of the Global War on Terrorism. Prior to his election to the Alabama House of Representatives, he worked as director of research and development for Birmingham AIDS Outreach. He resides in Birmingham, Alabama with his husband and former United States Marine, Michael Rudulph.

. Representative Rafferty’s is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Rafferty first came out as gay in 1998. His early teens were filled with taunting and bullying that he described as a “daily gantlet.” He ran away from home. Before his junior year, looking for a fresh start, he transferred to a different school and did not reveal his sexual identity to classmates or teachers.

Mr. Rafferty attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham and joined the Marine Corps. While in the military, he avoided conversations about personal relationships, although he was already in a relationship with the man who would later become his husband. Only after leaving the Marines, just over a decade ago, did he become more open about his sexuality.

He spent nine years as an employee of Birmingham AIDS Outreach, working with young people and organizing H.I.V. testing events across the region. He ran for the Legislature in 2018, becoming only the second openly gay lawmaker elected in the state. The first, Patricia Todd, held the same Birmingham-area House seat before him. At her retirement, Ms. Todd said that she was most proud of the Alabama legislation that she had helped to block — measures she considered harmful to LGBTQ constituents.

Mr. Rafferty, too, has spent his term in the Legislature working to prevent new restrictions on gay and transgender young people. He testified against such proposals. He connected constituents with Republican proponents of the measures, hoping to change the lawmakers’ minds by making them more comfortable with gay and transgender people and explaining the burdens they said such legislation would create. He brought medical experts and local organizers who provide support to LGBTQ youth to the Capitol.