A History of Firsts - By equalitygiving.org

To win equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans we need the support of fair-minded politicians as well as LGBT politicians that put a personal face to legislation. Like in any institution, a critical mass of LGBT politicians is needed in order to represent our need for legal equality.

A HISTORY OF FIRSTS

• The first open LGBT person in political office was Nancy Wechsler
  > She was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in 1972 as a member of the Human Rights Party and came out as a lesbian during her first and only term there.

• The first person to win an election as openly LGBT was Kathy Kozachenko
  > In January 1974, she won a seat as an open lesbian on the Ann Arbor City Council as member of the Human Rights Party.

• Harvey Milk was the fifth person elected to public office in the US as openly LGBT
  > He was elected in 1977 as a member of the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco.
  > Four others were elected before him as open LGBT:
  • Kathy Kozachenko (Ann Arbor City Council, January 1974)
  • Elaine Noble (Massachusetts House of Representatives, November 1974)
  • Allan Spear (Minnesota State Senate, Nov 1976) (He came out during his first term and was reelected.)
  • Jim Yeadon (Madison, WI City Council, April 1977)

• The first openly gay Democratic member of the US House of Representatives was Gerry Studds (D-MA)
  > He served from 1973 to 1997; he was in the closet when first elected.
  > He acknowledged that he was gay in 1983 when he was censured by the House for having an consensual affair with a male page of legal age. He continued to win elections until he decided to retire.


• The first openly gay Republican member of the US House of Representatives was Steve Gunderson (R-WI)
  > He served from 1980 to 1997; he was in the closet when first elected.
  > He was outed by another Republican, because Gunderson was the only Republican in Congress to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act that Bill Clinton signed into law


• The first member of the US Congress elected as an open lesbian was Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in 1998
  > She continues to proudly represent Wisconsin's 2nd district.

• The first member of the US Congress elected as an open gay was Jared Polis (D-CO) in 2008
  

NOT ENOUGH REPRESENTATION

Any minority needs a critical mass of representatives.

• Only two members US House of Representatives are openly gay: Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jared Polis (D-CO)


• Only one member of the US House of Representatives is openly lesbian: Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)


• No members of the US House of Representatives are openly bisexual or transgender


• No members of the US Senate are openly LGBT, although several are believed to be in the closet and vote against pro-equality legislation


• 20 states do not have an openly LGBT member of the State Legislature

SUPPORT LGBT POLITICIANS

eQualityGiving endorses candidates (independently of party affiliation) who are pro equality and are running for office at the Federal level as well as statewide. Among those who we endorsed for the 2008 election, two were running as openly LGBT:

• Linda Ketner (D-SC) is running for the US House of Representatives. She did not win.
• Jared Polis (D-CO) is running for the US House of Representatives. He won.
• Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) for reelection for the US House of Representatives. She won.
• Barney Frank (D-MA) for reelection for the US House of Representatives. He won.