Public memorial for state Rep. Lamin Swann set for Thursday
A public memorial for a Lexington representative who died Sunday will be Thursday at Greyline Station in Lexington.
Rep. Lamin Swann, D-Lexington, was hospitalized earlier this month and died Sunday. The cause of death has not been released. He was hospitalized on May 10 for a “significant medical emergency”
Friends, family and those who knew the first-term state representative are invited to attend the 5 p.m. service at Greyline, 101 W. Loudon Ave.
“Attendees will have the opportunity to share their personal stories, reflections, and insights about his significant contributions to our community,” according to organizers of the event.
Swann, 45, was elected to serve in the state House last year.
“There are no words to fully describe the grief and impossible loss that others and I feel right now after saying good-bye earlier today to my beloved son, Lamin,” Swann’s mother, Pam Dixon, said in a statement released Sunday. “Beyond our faith, what comforts us is knowing the positive and lasting impact he had on so many.
A freshman legislator, Swann won a contested general election in the newly-formed 93rd state House district in 2022. He beat Republican challenger Kyle Whalen by roughly eight percentage points in the district that is centered around the Tates Creek schools in southern Fayette County.
In his lone legislative session, one of Swann’s biggest pushes was for the state to consider expanding housing discrimination laws to include sources of income — meaning that landlords couldn’t discriminate against potential tenants for using housing vouchers, among other nontraditional sources of payment. That bill, House Bill 437, did not get assigned to a committee in the GOP-led House.
Another bill of Swann’s, which also did not move this session, would have required Kentucky schools to adopt middle and high school curriculum teaching the history of racism in America.
Swann, who had cerebral palsy, spoke of the challenges that came with his disability on the House floor in Frankfort.
Swann was also well-known in Democratic, activist and civically engaged communities in the area. In 2004, he ran for the 88th House District in Lexington. In 2010, he ran for an at-large seat on the Lexington-Fayettte Urban County Council.
