A number of glbtq persons have been elected to state legislatures and even executive branch positions. The first openly gay state legislators were Elaine Noble (Massachusetts House) and Allan Spear (Minnesota Senate). Noble came out first in 1974 as an open lesbian after being elected and went on to serve two terms. Spear was first elected to the state senate in 1972 and came out in 1974, continuing to serve until he retired in 2000. The first state legislator in the country was Althea Garrison, elected in 1992, who served one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

There have been only a few glbtq public officials in executive positions at the state level. Ed Flanagan, Vermont Auditor of Accounts, is still the only openly gay person to be elected to a statewide office by a vote of the people. Flanagan was elected in 1992, but he did not come out as openly gay until 1995. After coming out Flanagan was reelected in 1996 and 1998.

Sponsor Message.

Congressmen

By 2003, there were three openly glbtq serving in Congress, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the first open lesbian elected to Congress, and the first non-incumbent openly glbtq person elected to Congress.

The first openly gay member of Congress was Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA). Studds was not openly gay when he was first elected, but he revealed that he was gay in July 1983. After coming out he was reelected every election cycle through 1994 and retired in 1996.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) was the second openly gay member of Congress after he came out in May 1987. He continues to win reelection easily.

Following Frank, two incumbent Republican members of Congress came out in the 1990s. Both were in effect outed.

As he faced reelection in 1994, after gay activists threatened to out him for not having been supportive of glbtq issues, Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-WI) revealed his sexual orientation. He thus became the first openly gay Republican member of Congress. He was reelected in 1994, but retired in 1996.

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) was confronted with a difficult decision in 1996, either publicly announce that he was gay, or wait and answer questions following the publication in the Advocate of an article outing him. Rep. Kolbe chose to make a public announcement himself and has been reelected ever since.

Significantly, following their outing, both Gunderson and Kolbe became more supportive of the glbtq community than they had been when they were still closeted.

Finally, although no openly glbtq person has yet been elected to the U. S. Senate, the number of openly glbtq candidates for both the House and the Senate has been on the increase since 1996.

There have been a number of closeted members of Congress, some of whom were outed as a result of sexual indiscretions or by activists because they failed to support glbtq issues.

Increasing Numbers

In 1987 the glbtq movement could claim 20 openly glbtq elected officials in the country. In 1991 that number had risen to 52. By April 1998 there were at least 146 openly glbtq elected officials in 27 states and the District of Columbia, and by 2002 that number had risen to 205 and increased to 245 by November 2003.

In 2000, there were a number of notable glbtq candidates, including the first openly glbtq major party nominee for the U.S. Senate (Ed Flanagan, Vermont Democrat), the first transgendered person to be a major party nominee for the U.S. House (Karen Kerin, Vermont Republican), three incumbent members of Congress, and six additional challengers for congressional seats, a third-party presidential nominee (David McReynolds, Socialist Party USA), 32 state legislators seeking re-election, and 31 challengers for state legislative seats.

During the 2001-2002 election cycle, there were at least 135 glbtq candidates on the ballot, and that number increased to more than 160 in the 2003-2004 cycle.

Over 90 percent of these officials and candidates are Democrats, but there are notable glbtq Republicans at every level of government. One figure is Dan Stewart, who was elected mayor of Plattsburgh, New York in 1999, and has gained significant status in the state Republican Party. Likewise, Republican Neil Giuliano, mayor of Tempe, Arizona, received considerable attention after coming out in 1997. He was easily reelected in 1998 and 2000. Giuliano even survived a recall election in September 2001, which he won handily with 68 percent of the vote.

Glbtq candidates have achieved some significant successes at the ballot box, running for and winning local, state, and national elections. These successes are a barometer of the progress of the glbtq movement for equality.

The U.S. gay rights movement has made significant progress toward achieving equality for glbtq Americans, and in the process has become more inclusive and diverse, but much remains to be done.

First used by homophobes and then by glbtq activists, outing is the public revelation of a person's sexuality without the consent of that person.

Political scientists have generated insights important to the study of sexuality through research into glbtq participation in formal politics, studies of sexuality as a category of power, and reconceptualizations of the relationship between sexuality and politics.

The concept of sexual citizenship draws attention to the political aspects of erotics and the sexual component of politics.

American activist and politician Roberta Achtenberg is the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the United States Senate for a major political post.

The first out lesbian elected to the United States Congress, Democratic legislator Tammy Baldwin has been a strong supporter of glbtq rights, but she is far from a one-issue politician.

James Buchanan, the only "bachelor president" of the United States, had a long intimate relationship with William R. King, the only unmarried vice-president.

Although the homosexuality of French politician and Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë has not been an issue in his campaigns for public service, he was targeted for assassination by a man who hates homosexuals.

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

The Empire State Pride Agenda, which lobbies New York governments at both state and local levels for equal rights, is recognized as among the strongest statewide glbtq political organizations in the United States.

Openly gay U. S. congressman Barney Frank has been a leader not only in the cause of gay and lesbian rights but also on issues including fair housing, consumer rights, banking, and immigration.

Once best known as a youthful actor, Sheila James Kuehl is now a respected California state legislator and a vigorous advocate for glbtq rights.

Log Cabin Republicans, a gay and lesbian organization, is dedicated to the principle that equal treatment under the law for gay men and women is consistent with the principles and values of the Republican Party.

Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States, was assassinated in San Francisco's City Hall, making him the American gay liberation movement's most visible martyr.

A dedicated lesbian activist in the early years of the gay liberation movement, Elaine Noble made history as the first openly gay candidate elected to a state-level office when she won a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1974.

The Republican Party of the United States has not been supportive of glbtq issues, despite the efforts of the Log Cabin Republicans.

José Sarria, a San Francisco singer, drag performer, and activist, exemplified gay pride before the phrase was invented.

Representative Gerry Studs, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was the first member of the United States Congress to acknowledge that he was gay.

Provocative, intellectual, and earthy, New Zealand's Marilyn Waring is both a contented goat farmer and one of the most innovative political and economic thinkers in the world.