Jacob Cochran may have lost his race for alderman-at-large in Poplarville, Mississippi, but he still made history with his candidacy.The 28-year-old was one of only a small handful of openly gay candidates ever to run for public office in Mississippi, and he was the first-ever out candidate to run for office in Poplarville, a conservative town of roughly 3,000 people that has been described as “a classic example of Donald Trump’s America.”In 2016, for instance, the state Legislature passed House Bill 1523, which made it legal for businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people based on religious beliefs.
All the representatives and senators from Pearl River County voted to approve the measure.Yet despite all the odds being against him,.