Achtenberg was a member of the committee drafting the Democratic Party's platform, and she addressed the national convention in defense of the document. In introducing herself to the delegates, she proudly identified herself as a lesbian, a mother, and a Jew.

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Nomination to HUD and the Confirmation Fight

As President-elect Clinton assembled his cabinet, he invited Achtenberg to be Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Achtenberg would be the first openly gay person to receive Senate confirmation for an administration post.

The process was long and grueling. Conservative Christian groups lobbied against her, and a number of conservative Senators attempted to block her appointment.

Senator Jesse Helms spearheaded the opposition, making numerous public comments against Achtenberg, whom he described as a "damn lesbian," an "intolerant radical," and a "mean person" who "tried to bully the Boy Scouts." Immediately before the vote on confirmation Helms warned Achtenberg's supporters that "if any member of this Senate thinks this vote will go unnoticed by their constituents back home, they may find out otherwise" when they ran for reelection.

Achtenberg and the Boy Scouts of America

The Senate debate included many allusions to what opponents called Achtenberg's "vendetta" against the Boy Scouts, prompting San Francisco Chronicle reporter April Lynch to write, "The Boy Scouts issue was brought up so often that some tourists sitting in the Senate visitors gallery became confused as to whether they were hearing debate on the Scouts or a HUD nomination."

Achtenberg had been one of over fifty members of the board of directors of the United Way in San Francisco who voted unanimously not to give funds to the Boy Scouts because of their discriminatory policy against gay and bisexual boys.

The Christian Action Network sent all Senators a tape of Achtenberg and Morgan riding in the 1992 Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco. The clip included a brief embrace by the couple. Helms referred to this as evidence of Achtenberg's "insane assault on family values" and castigated her for "demanding that society accept as normal a lifestyle that most of the world's major religions consider immoral and which the average American voter instinctively finds repulsive."

The much-admired Senator Claiborne Pell was among those to speak in support of Achtenberg's confirmation, urging colleagues to use "simple standards of fairness and equal treatment" when considering the nominee. In the course of his remarks he also mentioned that his daughter, Julia Pell, was a lesbian and that he would not want her "barred from a government job because of her orientation."

Confirmation

After Achtenberg's testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the vigorous efforts of her proponents, especially Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California and Donald Riegle of Michigan, the full Senate confirmed her nomination by a vote of 58 to 31.

To keep the family together, Morgan resigned her judgeship in California and moved to Washington, D.C. with Achtenberg and their son.

Achievements at HUD

As Assistant Secretary at HUD, Achtenberg worked on such issues as fairness in mortgage lending and home insurance, and on finding housing for thousands of low-income citizens displaced by the 1994 earthquake in California.

Among her proudest achievements was the integration of previously all-white Vidor, Texas. With HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, Achtenberg developed a public housing project for the city and worked with community leaders to ensure successful and peaceful integration despite the opposition of the Ku Klux Klan. When construction was complete, Achtenberg went to Vidor and helped the new tenants move in.

Return to California

Achtenberg left HUD in 1995 to run in the primary for mayor of San Francisco. Given little chance at the outset, she gained considerable support but eventually lost by a narrow margin.

She briefly went back to Washington to serve as a Senior Advisor to Cisneros, but in 1996 she and her family returned to California. Achtenberg accepted a position with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, where she is currently Senior Vice President for Public Policy. Morgan is now in private legal practice.

Honors

For her commitment to gay and lesbian rights, Achtenberg has received a GLAAD Visibility Award and a Founders Award from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, among other honors.

She was also named one of the "50 Most Influential Businesswomen in the Bay Area" in 1997.

In the United States, glbtq candidates have achieved some significant successes at the ballot box in the last three decades, running for and winning local, state, and national elections.

San Francisco has enjoyed a reputation as a "gay mecca" since World War II.

American activist Virginia Apuzzo has dedicated her life to gay and lesbian issues, including civil rights, health care, and the concerns of aging members of the glbtq community.

The Boy Scouts of America, formed to rehabilitate masculinity in the early twentieth century, has constantly seen itself as under attack or at least challenged by homosexuality or effeminacy, and its official policy excluding homosexuals has recently led to several legal and social challenges.

The American glbtq movement for equality has largely allied itself with the Democratic Party.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a watchdog group dedicated to promoting accurate representations of the glbtq community in the media.

Political operative and advisor to President Clinton, Bob Hattoy was deeply concerned about glbtq rights and the environment.

The son of a homophobic psychoanalyst, Richard Socarides became the first openly gay man to serve in a prominent White House staff position.