Openly-Gay Mississippi Mayor Candidate Found Dead

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   Federal
[edit] Congress

U.S. Representative (first out congressperson and Democrat): Gerry Studds^[2] (MA-12, MA-10) - served 1973–1997, outed 1983
U.S. Representative (first to voluntarily come out): Barney Frank (MA-4) – served 1980–2013, came out in 1987
U.S. Representative (first out Republican): Steve Gunderson (WI-3) – served 1981–1997, outed 1994
U.S. Representative (first Republican to voluntarily come out): Jim Kolbe (AZ-5) – served 1985–2007, came out 1996
U.S. Representative (out when first elected, female): Tammy Baldwin (WI-2) – served 1999–2013
U.S. Representative (out when first elected, male): Jared Polis (CO-2) – served 2009–present
U.S. Representative (out when first elected), first openly bisexual member of Congress: Kyrsten Sinema – elected 2012 ^[3]
U.S. Representative (out when first elected), first to succeed another openly-gay officeholder in office: Mark Pocan (WI-2) – elected 2012, succeeded Tammy Baldwin
U.S. Representative (out when first elected), first non-white openly gay member of Congress: Mark Takano (CA-41) – elected 2012
U.S. Congressional committee chair: Gerry Studds – chair of House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 1990–1995
U.S. Senate (first openly LGBT person, out when first elected): Tammy Baldwin – elected 2012, lesbian, representing Wisconsin ^[4]
[edit] By state delegation

Arizona

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R) – elected 1985–2007; came out voluntarily 1996 while in office
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) – elected 2012
California:

Rep. Michael Huffington (R) – elected 1993–1995; came out as Bisexual in 1998
Rep. Mark Takano (D) – elected 2012
Colorado:

Rep. Jared Polis (D) – elected 2009
Connecticutt

Rep. Stewart McKinney (R) – elected 1971–1987; Died of AIDS in 1987 and was actively though not openly bisexual
Florida:

Rep. Mark Foley (R) – elected 1995–2006, sexuality revealed by lawyer after resignation in 2006 due to sending explicit texts to a 16 year old United States House of Representatives Page
Maryland:

Rep. Robert Bauman (R) – elected 1973–1981; sexuality revealed after soliciting sex from a 16 year old male prostitute
Massachusetts:

Rep. Gerry Studds (D) – elected 1983–1997, came out involuntary 1983 while in office due sexual relations with a 16 year old United States House of Representatives Page
Rep. Barney Frank (D) – elected 1980–2013; came out voluntarily 1987 after Steve Gobie, a male prostitute, who Frank had hired for sex and who later became his personal assistant and housekeeper due to the two becoming good friends, tried to sell his story of them to the Washington Times
Mississippi

Rep. Jon Hinson (R) – elected 1979–1981; sexuality revealed after he was arrested February 5, 1981, and charged with sodomy^[5] for performing oral sex on a male employee of the Library of Congress in a restroom of the House of Representatives, due to which caused his resignation.
New York:

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D) – elected 2012^[6]
Rhode Island:

Rep. David Cicilline (D) – elected 2010
Wisconsin:

Senator: Tammy Baldwin (female (D) – elected 2012
Representative: Tammy Baldwin (female) (D) – elected 1998–2013
Representative: Steve Gunderson (male) (R) – served 1981–1997; came out involuntarily 1994
Representative: Mark Pocan (D) – elected 2012, out when elected
[edit] State

State governor:

New Jersey: Jim McGreevey (D)^[7] – came out 2004 (during the same speech in which he resigned as Governor)
Secretary of State:

Oregon: Kate Brown (D) (America's first openly bisexual statewide officeholder) – elected 2008
State comptroller:

Vermont: Ed Flanagan (D) – elected 1992
Connecticut: Kevin Lembo (D) – elected 2010
State treasurer:

Maine: Dale McCormick (D) – elected (by the legislature) 1996
State legislative leaders:

Presiding officer: Minnesota Sen. Allan H. Spear (D) – elected senate president 1993
Speaker: Rhode Island Rep. Gordon D. Fox (D) – elected speaker 2010
[edit] State officers by state
[edit] Legislative officials

California:

House Speaker: Rep. John Pérez (D) (elected 2010)
Colorado:

House Speaker: Mark Ferrandino (D) (2012)
House Minority Leader: Mark Ferrandino (D) (2011)
Hawaii:

House Majority Leader: Rep. Blake Oshiro (D) (elected 2008, came out 2011)
Massachusetts:

Senate Minority Leader: Sen. Richard Tisei (R) (elected 2007, came out 2010)
Minnesota:

Senate President: Sen. Allan Spear (D) (1993)
Missouri:

Senate Minority Floor Leader: Sen. Jolie Justus (D) (2012)
Oregon:

House Speaker: Rep. Tina Kotek (D) – America's first openly lesbian House speaker (elected as Oregon's House speaker in 2012) ^[8]
Rhode Island:

House Speaker: Rep. Gordon D. Fox (D) (2010)
Washington:

Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Ed Murray (D) (2012)
[edit] State legislators
The legislatures of 41 states have had at least one openly LGBT member; the first out person to serve in each of those states is listed here. The nine remaining states have never had an openly LGBT state legislator. They are: Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Alabama:

Rep. Patricia Todd (D) – elected 2006

Arizona:

Rep. (later Sen.) Kenneth D. Cheuvront (D) – elected 1994

Arkansas:

Rep. Kathy Webb (D) – elected 2006

California:

Assemblywoman (later Sen.) Sheila Kuehl (female) (D) – elected 1994 to House; elected to Senate in 2000
Rep. John Pérez (male) (D) – first Speaker, appointed 2010

Colorado:

Rep. (later Sen.)Jennifer Veiga (female) (D) – came out 2002
Rep. Mark Ferrandino (male) (D) – elected 2007; elected House Minority Leader 2011
Sen. Pat Steadman (male) (D) – elected 2009
Sen. Lucía Guzmán (female) (D) – elected 2010

Connecticut:

Rep. Joseph S. Grabarz Jr (D) – came out 1990
Evelyn Mantilla (D) – came out as America's first openly bisexual state official in 1997. ^[9]^[10]

Florida:

Rep. David Richardson (D) – elected 2012^[4]
Rep. Joe Saunders (D) – elected 2012

Georgia:

Rep. Karla Drenner (D) – elected 2000
Rep. Rashad Taylor (D) – elected 2008, came out 2011

Hawaii:

Rep. Joe Bertram (D) – elected 2006
Rep. Blake Oshiro (D) – first House Majority Leader, came out 2010

Idaho:

Rep. (now Sen.) Nicole LeFavour (D) – elected 2004

Illinois:

Rep. Larry McKeon (male) (D) – elected 1996
Rep. Deb Mell (female) (D) – elected 2009

Iowa:

Sen. Matt McCoy (D) – came out 2004

Kentucky:

Sen. Ernesto Scorsone (D) – came out 2003

Maine:

Sen. Dale McCormick (D) – elected 1990

Maryland:

Del. Maggie McIntosh (D) – came out 2002

Massachusetts:

Rep. Elaine Noble (female) (D) – elected 1974
Rep. (later Sen.) Jarrett Barrios (male) (D) – elected to House 1999, elected to Senate 2003
Rep. Althea Garrison (R) – elected 1993, first transgender person elected to a state legislature in the United States.
Sen. Cheryl Jacques (D) – elected 1993

Michigan:

Rep. Chris Kolb - elected 2000

Minnesota:

Sen. Allan Spear (male) (D) – elected 1972, came out December 1974
Rep. Karen Clark (female) (D) – elected 1981, out when first elected^[11]

Missouri:

Rep. Tim Van Zandt (male) (D) – elected 1994
Rep. Zachary Wyatt (male) (R) – elected 2010; came out 2012
Sen. Jolie Justus (female) (D) – elected 2007

Montana:

Rep. Diane Sands (D) – appointed 1996

Nevada:

Assemblyman (now Sen.) David Parks (D) – elected 1996

New Hampshire:

Rep. Raymond Buckley (D) – elected 1986
Sen. David Pierce (D) – elected 2012^[4]
Chris Pappas (D) – elected 2012, first LGBT person ever elected to the New Hampshire Executive Council

New Jersey:

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) – came out 2006

New Mexico:

Sen. Liz Stefanics (D) – elected 1992
Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D) – elected 2012

New York:

Rep. Deborah Glick (female) (D) – elected 1990
Sen. Thomas Duane (male) (D) – elected 1998
Rep. Micah Kellner (male; bisexual) (D) – elected 2007

North Carolina:

Sen. Julia Boseman (D) – elected 2004
Rep. Marcus Brandon (male) (D) – elected 2010

North Dakota:

Rep. Joshua Boschee (D) – elected 2012^[4]

Ohio:

Rep. Nickie Antonio (D) – elected 2010
Rep. Tim Brown (R) – elected 2012

Oklahoma:

Rep. (now Sen.) Al McAffrey (male) (D) – elected 2006; elected first state senator 2012
Rep. Kay Floyd (female) (D) – elected 2012

Oregon:

Rep. Gail Shibley (D) – appointed 1991

Pennsylvania:

Rep. Mike Fleck (R) – elected 2007, came out 2012
Rep. Brian Sims (D) – elected (while out) 2012^[4]

Rhode Island:

Sen. William P. Fitzpatrick (D) – elected 1992, ran as openly gay; statewide publicity after election

South Dakota:

Sen. Angie Buhl (D) – elected 2011, came out 2012^[1]

Texas:

Rep. Glen Maxey (male) (D) – elected 1991
Rep. Mary Gonzalez (female) (D) – elected 2012; first openly pansexual elected official in the United States^[12]

Utah:

Rep. Jackie Biskupski (female) (D) – elected 1998
Sen. Scott McCoy (male) (D) – elected 2005

Vermont:

Rep. Ron Squires (D) – elected 1990
Sen. Ed Flanagan (male) (D) – elected 2005

Virginia:

Del. (now Sen.) Adam Ebbin (D) – elected 2003; elected first state senator 2011

Washington State:

Rep. (later Sen.) Cal Anderson (D) – appointed 1987
Rep. Laurie Jinkins (female) (D) – elected 2010

West Virginia:

Rep. Stephen Skinner (D) – elected 2012^[4]

Wisconsin:

Rep. (later Sen.) Tim Carpenter (male) (D) – elected to Assembly in 1984, came out in 2001, elected to Senate in 2002
Rep. Mark Pocan (male) (D) – elected 1998
Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa (female; bisexual) (D) – elected 2010; came out 2012

Wyoming:

Rep. Cathy Connolly (D) – elected 2008
[edit] Territorial legislators

Guam:

Sen. Benjamin Cruz (D) – elected 2008^[13]
[edit] Local
[edit] Executive

First mayor of a U.S. state capital: David Cicilline, Providence, Rhode Island – 2002
Largest city (in the country) with a lesbian mayor: Annise Parker, Houston, Texas – 2009
Largest city with a gay male mayor: Sam Adams, Portland, Oregon – 2008
First transgender mayor: Stu Rasmussen, Silverton, Oregon – 2008
[edit] By state

California

Cambell Beach

Mayor: Evan Low
Palm Springs

Mayor: Ron Oden
Redondo Beach

Mayor: Mike Gin
Sierra Madre

Mayor: Joe Mosca
Vallejo

Mayor: Gary Cloutier
Connecticut

New London

Mayor: Daryl Justin Finizio
Hartford

Mayor: Pedro Segarra
Delaware

Delaware City

Mayor: John Buchheit
Florida

Broward County

Mayor: Ken Keechl
Gainesville

Mayor: Craig Lowe
Kentucky

Lexington

Mayor: Jim Gray
Maryland

Salisbury

Mayor: Jim Ireton
Massachusetts

Attleboro

Mayor: Kevin Dumas (male), elected 2003
Cambridge

Kenneth Reeves (male), elected 1992
E. Denise Simmons (female), elected 2008
Holyoke

Mayor: Alex Morse, elected 2011
Michigan

Ferndale

Mayor: Craig Covey
Mississippi

Southaven

Mayor: Greg Davis (came out in 2011)
New Jersey

Chatham Borough

Mayor: Bruce Harris, elected 2011
Long Hill Township

Mayor: Gina Genovese, elected 2005
Neptune Township

Mayor: Randy Bishop
Maywood

Mayor: Tim Eustace
North Carolina

Carrboro

Mayor: Mike Nelson, elected 1995
Chapel Hill

Mayor: Mark Kleinschmidt, elected 2009
Oregon

Portland

Sam Adams
Silverton

Stu Rasmussen (transgender)
Rhode Island

Providence

Mayor: David Cicilline
Richmond

Mayor: Benjamin Joseph Reddish III
Texas

Houston

Mayor: Annise Parker, elected 2009
Utah

Big Water

Mayor: Willy Marshall
[edit] Legislative

City Councilmembers: Nancy Wechsler, Jerry DeGrieck (Ann Arbor) – came out 1973
City Councilmember (out when first elected): Kathy Kozachenko (Ann Arbor) – elected 1974
City-County Supervisor: Harvey Milk (City and County of San Francisco) – out when elected in 1977 (assassinated)
City Councilmember: Ricardo Gonzalez (Madison, Wisconsin) – first out elected Hispanic official in the country 1989
City Councilmember (transgender): Joanne Conte (Arvada, Colorado) – trans woman, served on Arvada City Council from 1991 to 1995
City Council Speaker: Christine Quinn (elected 2006)
[edit] By state

Arizona

Phoenix

Councilmember: Tom Simplot
California

Berkeley

Councilmember: Kriss Worthington
Long Beach

Councilmember: Gerrie Schipske (female), out when elected 2006
Los Angeles

Councilmember: Joel Wachs (male), elected 1971, came out 1999
Councilmember: Bill Rosendahl (male), out when elected 2005
Councilmember: Jackie Goldberg (female), elected 1994
Oakland

Councilmember: Danny Wan
Palm Springs

Councilmember: Ron Oden, elected 1995
Petaluma

Gabe Kearney
Sacramento

Councilmember: Steve Hansen elected 2012
San Diego

Councilmember: Christine Kehoe, elected 1993
San Francisco

Councilmember: Harvey Milk
Colorado

Arvada

Councilmember: Joanne Conte (transgender)
Denver

Councilmember: Robin Kniech, elected 2011
Lakewood

Councilmember: Karen Kellen
District of Columbia

Councilmember: David Catania
Florida

Hillsborough County

County Commissioner: Kevin Beckner
St. Petersburg

Councilmember: Steve Kornell
Wilton Manors

Councilmember: John Fiore
Georgia

Atlanta

Councilmember: Alex Wan (male), elected 2010
Councilmember: Cathy Woolard, elected 1997
City Council President: Cathy Woolard, elected 2002
Decatur

Commissioner: Kecia Cunningham
Doraville

Councilmember: Brian L. Bates
East Point

Councilmember: Lance Rhodes
Milton

Councilmeber: Alan Tart
Illinois

Chicago:

Alderman: Tom Tunney, elected 2003
Springfield

Alderman: Cory Jobe, elected 2011
Indiana

Indianapolis

Councilmember: Zach Adamson
Iowa

Davenport

Councilmember: Bill Boom^[14]
Maine

Portland

Councilmember: Barb Wood, elected 1987
Maryland

College Park

Councilmember: Patrick Wojahn
Massachusetts

Holyoke

Councilmember: Timothy Purington
New Bedford

Councilmember: Joe DeMedeiros
Michigan

Ann Arbor

Councilmember: Kathy Kozachenko
Councilmember: Jerry DeGrieck
Minnesota

Duluth

Councilmember: Jeff Anderson
Moorhead

Councilmember: Greg Lemke
Montana

Missoula

Councilmember: Caitlin Copple
New Jersey

Jersey City

Councilmember: Ray Velazquez
New York

Rochester

Councilmember: Tim Mains, elected 1985
New York City

Councilmembers: Antonio Pagán and Thomas Duane, both elected in 1991
Speaker of the City Council: Christine Quinn
Suffolk County

Councilmember: Jon Cooper
Troy

Councilmember: Ken Zalewski
North Carolina

Carrboro

Alderwoman: Lydia Lavelle
Chapel Hill

Councilmember: Mark Kleinschmidt, elected 2001
Charlotte

Councilmember: LaWana Mayfield, elected 2011
Ohio

Cincinnati

Councilmember: Chris Seelbach
Pennsylvania

Harrisburg

Councilmember: Daniel C. Miller
New Hope Borough

Councilmember: Geri Delevich
Pittsburgh

Councilmember: Bruce Kraus
Tennessee

Nashville

Councilmember: Keith Durbin
Texas

Austin

Councilmember: Randi Shade
Dallas

Councilmember: Craig McDaniel^[15]
Fort Worth

Councilmember: Joel Burns
Houston

Councilmember: Annise Parker (female), elected 1997
Councilmember: Mike Laster (male), elected 2011
Virginia

Blacksburg

Councilmember: Michael Sutphin, elected 2011
Washington:

Des Moines

Councilmember: Dave Kaplan (male), elected 1997 and 2005
Seattle

Councilmember: Sherry Harris (female), elected 1991^[16]
Councilmember: Tom Rasmussen (male), elected 2003^[17]
Wisconsin

Appleton

Councilmember: Teege Mettille, 2011
Dane County

Supervisor: Richard Wagner (male), elected 1980; Board chair 1988 (first in Wisconsin)
Supervisor: Kathleen Nichols (female), elected 1982
Kenosha County

Supervisor: Dayvin Halmon, 2008
Madison

Councilmember: James Yeadon, appointed 1976, elected 1977
Shorewood Hills

Village Board trustee: John Neess
Waukesha

Councilmember: Vance Skinner, 2010
[edit] By territory

Puerto Rico

San Juan

Councilmember: Pedro Peters Maldonado, elected 2012^[18]
[edit] Judicial

Circuit judge: George A. W. Northrup, Dane County, Wisconsin – served 1984–1997, came out 1997
Federal judge: Deborah Batts, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York – appointed 1994
Territorial supreme court judge: Benjamin Cruz, Supreme Court of Guam – appointed 1997, became Chief Justice 1999^[19]
State supreme court judge: Rives Kistler, Oregon Supreme Court – appointed 2003
Transgender judge: Victoria Kolakowski, Superior Court of Alameda County, California – elected 2010