“What can you do for other people while you’re here?” said Woodbury City Councilmember Jo Miller, quoting a mantra that guided her family while she was growing up. “My intent was always to do something to make the world a little better.”
Miller, who went to college for mechanical engineering, didn’t pursue a career that aligned with her bachelor’s degree. Instead, she worked for local Democratic legislators after graduating. She remembers learning about a specific bill which intended to clarify a law due to the way judges were interpreting the current statute. Learning about this made her consider the way case law impacts anti-discrimination efforts, sparking a new interest that led her to law school.
But throughout her second year studying, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric was beginning to take a tangible effect in the legislature. So she shifted her approach.
“I didn’t want to wait to play defense as a lawyer,” she said. “So I left law school and started working back in politics.”
Miller found a public-facing role with the Camden County Democratic Committee, where she’s now the deputy executive director. In 2023, she came out as a nonbinary and transfeminine in an open letter addressing that community (because, as she said, this was easier than repeating the same conversation 20+ times to individuals and groups).
“So when is the right time to come out as Trans in politics?” she wrote. “When you are ready.”
For her, she felt ready the first week she started HRT. A few months later, when a Woodbury city council member resigned, she interviewed for the position and was appointed to the empty seat — making her the first openly trans Democratic leader to become an elected official in New Jersey.
It’s no shock that Woodbury is the place that made this happen — as its LGBTQ-inclusive spirit is one of the reasons Miller felt drawn to move there in 2019. Woodbury, which received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, has also displayed Pride banners on Broad Street since 2017.
The city has also passed multiple ordinances that specifically protect LGBTQ+ people, repealed antiquated laws that promoted discrimination, developed an LGBTQ+ police liaison initiative, hosts LGBTQ+ youth support groups at the local library, and invested in LGBTQ+ businesses.
“Even before I knew who I was exactly, I could see a future where I could be whoever that was gonna be there,” Miller said.
Since taking office, Miller has tried to do what she can to support and uplift LGBTQ+ people — often by advocating for LGBTQ+ kids at local school board meetings. Despite being just 28 years old, some already refer to her as a queer elder — a term she has begrudgingly embraced.
Part of her aim in leadership is to empower queer youth, who she’s actively mentoring — including one kid who approached her after an event to talk about what it’s like being nonbinary in office. Miller has since invited that student to city council meetings and is teaching them about the workings of local government.
“It just feels so good to be able to have that direct impact,” she said, noting that one of her top skills is helping people learn how to apply their skills to important projects and connecting people to each other to get things done.
Watching the young people around her continue to live openly in their authenticity in the face of discrimination inspires her when she’s faced with adversity or encounters people who don’t respect her trans identity.
Although the target is always to enact protections for LGBTQ+ people at the state or national level, Miller said she’s interested in pursuing more protections via more local ordinances too. She’s currently working to ensure that gender-neutral bathrooms are prioritized in all new construction plans. She’s also interested in auditing the language used in the city’s ordinances and other documents to eliminate any outdated or gendered language. Earlier this year, she worked with the Woodbury police chief to ensure their approaches to interacting with LGBTQ+ people feel current and appropriate.
Despite an active interest in LGBTQ+ equity, Miller rightfully doesn’t like that she’s continually tokenized as a trans elected official and noted that finding a balance can be tough for LGBTQ+ leaders. She has other areas of interest — such as finding ways to keep the city’s budget balanced without raising taxes, supporting new infrastructure — like the upcoming Glassboro-Camden light rail line, and attending local events — like the community’s annual car show.
She’s now running for re-election — hoping to earn another three years in office — and is using her time on city council to learn the ropes for future goals.
“Ever since I got to work in the legislature, I’ve always wanted to become a legislator — because that’s where a lot of the really cool policy work can happen, and that’s especially impactful for the queer community,” she said. “There’s only so much you can do locally.”
She’s not in any rush to move on though.
“There aren’t enough queer people in politics, and so as long as I’m one of the people in it, I’m always going to try and do the most and the best I can for the queer community,” underlined Miller, who was a 2023 Victory Empowerment Fellow. “So if that means running for higher office, then I’ll run for higher office. If it means helping someone else to run for higher office, I will absolutely do that.”
For now, she’s focused on making a difference in her local community.
“I want queer kids to have a better life than I did — not that I had a bad life, but every generation has worked to make [the world] safer and happier to be a queer kid,” Miller said. “And I just want to be a part of that.”
