Community Impact

Openly LGBT elected and appointed officials have made lasting contributions toward a more equal and fair America.

This is just a sampling of the recent efforts of openly LGBT officials, whose voices and passion helped advance the cause of equality.

• Congressman Barney Frank, along with his colleagues Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis, led a successful effort to finally pass legislation adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the nation's federal hate crimes laws, and President Barack Obama signed the measure into law. They also helped colleagues understand the need to end the discriminatory ban on openly gay and lesbian troops in the U.S. military, and that policy is set to end this year.
  
  
• Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin introduced the Domestic Partnerships Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, a bill that equalizes benefits for federal employees with same-sex partners.
  
  
• Assemblymember Daniel O'Donnell, Senator Tom Duane and their out colleagues led a successful effort to pass a marriage equality bill in the New York state legislature.
  
  
• Maine State Sen. Larry Bliss, along with his openly gay colleagues in the Maine House, Rep. Terry Morrison and Rep. Jim Martin, worked for passage of a marriage equality bill. The state's governor signed the bill, but the law was overturned later in the year via a statewide ballot question.
  
  
• Vermont's openly gay and lesbian state legislators helped persuade their colleagues to vote in favor of a marriage equality bill and even overrode a governor's veto of the measure.
  
  
• New Hampshire's openly gay state legislators, Rep. Ed Butler, Rep. David Pierce, and Rep. Jim Splaine, led efforts to craft a marriage equality bill that was passed and signed into law by the state's governor.
  
  
• Illinois State Reps. Greg Harris and Deb Mell introduced and helped pass a bill to establish civil unions in the state.
  
  
• Washington State's openly gay lawmakers made the case for sweeping new laws designed to give same-sex domestic partners the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. Opponents tried to repeal the measures via a statewide ballot question, but lost.
  
  
• In Nevada, State Sen. David Parks introduced and helped pass a bill establishing a domestic partner registry in the state. Even after a governor's veto threatened to stop the bill, Parks persuaded enough of his colleagues to vote to override and enact the new law.
  
  
• Birmingham, Alabama school board member Howard Bayless got an anti-bullying policy adopted that specifically addresses sexual orientation and gender identity.
  
  
• North Carolina State Sen. Julia Boseman persuaded her colleagues to pass a statewide anti-bullying law designed to outlaw abuse directed at the state's LGBT students.
  
  
• In Colorado, a bill that would give gay and lesbian state employees insurance benefits for their partners was introduced by State Sen. Jennifer Veiga. Openly gay state legislators also championed a civil unions bill that lost by just one vote. They have vowed to introduce the measure again until it passes.
  
  
• D.C. City Councilmember David Catania introduced and helped pass a measure establishing marriage equality for residents of the nation's capital.
  
  
• Assemblymember Mark Leno authored and helped pass a bill to recognize "Harvey Milk Day," an official day of recognition to be celebrated on Milk's birthday each year. The measure was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Leno also championed a successful bill to include LGBT history in the state's public school curriculum.
  
  
• Fort Worth, Texas City Councilmember Joel Burns recounted his emotional and compelling personal struggles as a young gay man during a Council meeting. He was looking to show his support for the LGBT youth of Fort Worth, and instead, he touched the lives of millions of LGBT people across the country.

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