Governing with Pride

Background and Selected Timeline

© Sources: PBS, Teaching LGBTQ History, Wikipedia, Bill of Rights Institute, Library of Congress, Britannica, American Bar Association, US Capitol Historical Society
The LGBTQ+ political history in the USA spans from pre-World War II activism to the landmark Supreme Court decisions of the 21st century, marked by significant advancements in rights and representation, including the legalization of same-sex marriage. Pre-Stonewall Era (1940s-1960s):• Early Activism: Organizations like the Mattachine Society (for gay men) and the Daughters of Bilitis (for lesbians) emerged, advocating for civil rights and challenging societal norms. • McCarthy Era: Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into homosexuals in government led to the persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals. • Civil Rights Movement Influence: The burgeoning civil rights movement, with figures like Bayard Rustin (a gay man and organizer for Martin Luther King Jr.), inspired LGBTQ+ activists to demand similar rights. • Stonewall Riots (1969): A police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City sparked a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, with patrons fighting back against police harassment. Post-Stonewall Era (1970s-1990s):• Gay Liberation Movement: The Stonewall Riots galvanized the LGBTQ+ community, leading to the formation of new organizations and a surge in activism. • Decriminalization: States began to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private. • Electoral Politics: Openly gay and lesbian individuals, such as Harvey Milk (San Francisco Board of Supervisors) began running for and winning political office. • HIV/AIDS Epidemic: The AIDS epidemic brought attention to the need for public health resources and LGBTQ+ rights. • Anti-Discrimination Efforts: Activists lobbied for anti-discrimination laws in employment, housing, and public accommodations. 21st Century:• Same-Sex Marriage: After decades of legal battles, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). • Military Service: The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibited openly gay individuals from serving in the military, was repealed in 2010. • Supreme Court Rulings: The Supreme Court has issued several landmark rulings impacting LGBTQ+ rights, including Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down sodomy laws, and Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which ruled that employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. • Increased Representation: The number of openly LGBTQ+ individuals in Congress and other elected offices has increased. Ongoing Challenges:• Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation: Some states have passed laws that restrict LGBTQ+ rights, such as bans on transgender athletes in sports or restrictions on gender-affirming care. • Discrimination: LGBTQ+ individuals continue to face discrimination in employment, housing, and other areas. • Intersectionality: LGBTQ+ activists continue to work to address the intersectional challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals of color, immigrants, and other marginalized groups.

Recommended Media

Web Resources: General

Tammy Baldwin
Pete Buttigieg
Barney Frank

Selected United States LGBTQ+ Politicians

Web Resources: Print

TAMMY BALDWIN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_BaldwinTAMMY BALDWIN: https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a61241277/tammy-baldwin-senate-wisconsin-race-interview-2024/PETE BUTTIGIEG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_ButtigiegPETE BUTTIGIEG: https://time.com/6286592/pete-buttigieg-interview-lgbtq-rights/ BARNEY FRANK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_FrankBARNEY FRANK: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barney-Frank TINA KOTEK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Kotek TINA KOTEK: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/10/has-oregon-gov-tina-koteks-popularity-in-the-portland-area-changed-what-the-oregonians-poll-found.html KATHY KOZACHENKO: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/meet-lesbian-who-made-political-history-years-harvey-milk-n1174941KATHY KOZACHENKO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_KozachenkoDR. RACHEL LEVINE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_LevineDR. RACHEL LEVINE: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/06/nx-s1-5235449/dr-rachel-levine-hhs-public-health-service-anti-transgender-laws HARVEY MILK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_MilkHARVEY MILK: https://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography ELAINE NOBLE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_NobleELAINE NOBLE: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pride50-america-s-first-out-lawmaker-elaine-noble-n1010831 JARED POLIS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Polis JARED POLIS: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/governors-colorado-jared-polis-00172910MAUREE TURNER: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauree_TurnerMAUREE TURNER: https://www.thecut.com/article/mauree-turner-lgbtq-rights-oklahoma-nex-benedict.html
Tina Kotek
Dr. Rachel Levine
Harvey Milk

Web Resources: Video

TAMMY BALDWIN ON GUTTING OF DoE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyRV_d38JKE PETE BUTTIGIEG ON PARENTHOOD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1-Gc6vU45k PETE BUTTIGIEG ON AMERICAN SECURITY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU5F_BospisBARNEY FRANK ON BEING GAY IN POLITICS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mihdqe2UlHY BARNEY FRANK ON HIS MEMOIR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkkK_kBjOn4 TINA KOTEK ON CLIMATE CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DLgvJ8t9c4KATHY KOZACHENKO OVERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8A5BOGQaJE KATHY KOZACHENKO OVERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZmCVc0nwrw DR. RACHEL LEVINE ON TRANSPHOBIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D9FxzbvNYU DR. RACHEL LEVINE SENATE CONFIRMATION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m_dAzlj3Uk HARVEY MILK OVERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDkDlfNHGM8 HARVEY MILK TEDEd TALK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr3kUfW2fM0 ELAINE NOBLE OVERVIEW INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqloLWYj94 JARED POLIS ON FAMILY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdEEiudFwJU JARED POLIS: INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7u3rWreBtU MAUREE TURNER 2020 TV SEGMENT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQsZ25-JOngMAUREE TURNER OVERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8erQvjugNt0
Elaine Noble
Kathy Kozachenko
Jared Polis
Maura Healey
Mauree Turner

Overviews of Seven Trailblazers

© Sources: PBS, Teaching LGBTQ History, Wikipedia, Bill of Rights Institute, Library of Congress, Britannica, American Bar Association, and US Capitol Historical Society.
TAMMY BALDWIN Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2013 as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, she has also served as the Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017 and is the dean of the United States congressional delegation from Wisconsin.Transportation Baldwin graduated from Smith College and the University of Wisconsin Law School and was a lawyer in private practice before entering the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1993. She served three terms from Wisconsin's 78th Assembly district from 1993 to 1999, and seven terms as the United States congresswoman from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district from 1999 to 2013. She was elected to the United States Senate in 2012 and reelected in 2018 and 2024. Baldwin is the first openly lesbian woman elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly (1993), the first openly lesbian woman and first woman elected to the U.S. House from Wisconsin (1998), and the first openly LGBT person and first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin (2012). She has a progressive voting record on healthcare, reproductive rights, and LGBT rights. PETE BUTTIGIEG Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg (born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to 2020, which earned him the nickname "Mayor Pete". Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Oxford, attending the latter on a Rhodes Scholarship. In 2007, he began three years of work at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. From 2009 to 2017, he was an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant. He was mobilized and deployed to the War in Afghanistan for seven months in 2014. Before being elected as mayor of South Bend in 2011, Buttigieg worked on the political campaigns of Democrats Jill Long Thompson, Joe Donnelly, and John Kerry, and ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for Indiana state treasurer in 2010. While serving as South Bend's mayor, Buttigieg came out as gay in 2015. He married Chasten Glezman, a schoolteacher and writer, in June 2018. Buttigieg declined to seek a third term as mayor. Buttigieg ran in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, launching his campaign for the 2020 presidential election on April 14, 2019. He became the first openly gay man to launch a Democratic presidential campaign. Despite initially low expectations, he gained significant momentum in mid-2019 when he participated in several town hall meetings and television debates. Buttigieg narrowly won the Iowa caucuses and placed a close second in the New Hampshire primary. By winning Iowa, he became the first openly gay candidate to win a presidential primary or caucus. Buttigieg dropped out of the race on March 1, 2020, and endorsed Joe Biden the following day. President-elect Biden named Buttigieg as his nominee for Secretary of Transportation in December 2020. His nomination was confirmed on February 2, 2021, by a vote of 86–13, making him the first openly gay Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Nominated at age 38, he was also the youngest Cabinet member in the Biden administration and the youngest person ever to serve as Secretary of Transportation. Press reports had mentioned Buttigieg as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris upon the start of her 2024 presidential campaign, though he was ultimately not selected. BARNEY FRANK Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011 and was a leading co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act. Frank, a resident of Newton, Massachusetts, was considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States during his time in Congress. Born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey, Frank graduated from Bayonne High School, Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He worked as a political aide before winning election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 with 52 percent of the vote. He was re-elected every term thereafter by wide margins. In 1987, he publicly came out as gay, becoming the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. From 2003 until his retirement, Frank was the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and he served as committee chairman when his party held a House majority from 2007 to 2011. In July 2012, he married his long-time partner, James Ready, becoming the first member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex while in office. Frank did not seek re-election in 2012 and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Joe Kennedy III. Frank's autobiography, A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, was published in 2015. Prior to his time in the House of Representatives, Frank served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981. KATHY KOZACHENKO Kathy Kozachenko (born 1953) is an American politician who was the first openly LGBT candidate to run successfully for political office in the United States. Kozachenko ran on the ticket of the Human Rights Party (HRP), the local, left-wing third party, which had already succeeded in winning two Ann Arbor, Michigan, council seats in 1972. Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Kozachenko moved around during her youth. From Toledo, Ohio, she would eventually make it to Plymouth, Michigan. She joined the Human Rights Party (HRP) in the early 1970s. Kozachenko is of Ukrainian descent. Kozachenko was an out student at the University of Michigan, where she received support for her progressive agenda, which included a fine of no more than five dollars for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Another part of her platform included "a ceiling on the amount of profit a landlord could make from rents on a building". Running solely against a liberal Democrat, the 21-year-old Kozachenko was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council on April 2, 1974. She won the seat "representing the city's second ward by fifty-two votes.” Kozachenko's HRP predecessors on the city council, Nancy Wechsler and Jerry DeGrieck, had both come out during their first and only terms on the city council, thus becoming the first openly LGBT public-office holders in the United States; however, neither Wechsler nor DeGrieck ran for office as an openly lesbian/gay individual. The city of Ann Arbor is planning to erect a statue in front of city hall to honor the former city council member. It is estimated to be dedicated in 2024, on the 50th anniversary of her election. DR. RACHEL LEVINE Rachel Leland Levine (born October 28, 1957) is an American pediatrician who served as the United States assistant secretary for health, the admiral in charge of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, from 2021 until 2025. Levine is a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine, and previously served as the Pennsylvania physician general from 2015 to 2017 and as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021. Levine is one of only a few openly transgender government officials in the United States and is the first to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation. On October 19, 2021, Levine became the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation's eight uniformed services. Levine was named one of USA Today's Women of the Year in 2022, which recognizes women who have made a significant impact on society. Shortly after her confirmation, Levine told NBC News that LGBTQ youth are topmost in her mind when it comes to addressing health disparities in the United States. She cited bullying, suicide, discriminatory policies, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic as pressing issues among LGBTQ youth. Levine has also expressed concerns about vaccine hesitancy among LGBTQ youth who are more likely to experience medical distrust and less likely to seek medical care. During an April 2022 speech at Texas Christian University, Levine criticized "disturbing – and frankly discriminatory – laws and actions" that many states have implemented that affect the lives of LGBTQ youth. In an interview with NPR, she cited a range of policies, including Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill and Texas' push to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children. Arguing that such policies are based on politics rather than public health, Levine encouraged people to contact the Office for Civil Rights when they feel discriminated against and vowed to provide support to those who contact her office. HARVEY MILK Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in New York. He acknowledged his homosexuality in adolescence but secretly pursued sexual relationships well into adulthood. The counterculture of the 1960s caused him to shed many of his conservative views about individual freedom and sexual expression. Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 and opened a camera store. Although he held an assortment of jobs and frequently changed addresses, he settled in the Castro, a neighborhood that was experiencing a mass immigration of gay men and lesbians. He ran for city supervisor in 1973 but the existing gay political establishment resisted him. Milk's campaign was compared to theater due to his personality, earning media attention and votes, although not enough to be elected. He campaigned again in the next two supervisor elections, dubbing himself the "Mayor of Castro Street". The voter response caused him to also run for the California State Assembly. Due to his growing popularity, he led the gay rights movement in battles against anti-gay initiatives. Milk was elected city supervisor in 1977 after San Francisco began to choose neighborhood representatives rather than city-wide ones. During Milk's almost eleven months in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing, and employment. The Supervisors passed the bill by a vote of 11–1, and Mayor George Moscone signed it into law. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk's bill. Despite his short political career, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the LGBTQ community. In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significant openly LGBTQ official ever elected in the United States". Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us." Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. JARED POLIS Jared Schutz Polis (born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the United States representative from Colorado's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He was elected governor of Colorado in 2018 and reelected in 2022. As an openly gay man, Polis has made history several times through his electoral success. In 2008, he became the first openly gay man and second openly LGBT person (after Tammy Baldwin) elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. In 2011, he became the first openly gay parent in Congress. In 2018, he became the first openly gay man and second openly LGBT person (after Kate Brown of Oregon) elected governor of a U.S. state. He is also the first Jewish person elected governor of Colorado. In 2021, he became the first governor in a same-sex marriage. In 2022, he became the first openly gay man and the first governor in a same-sex marriage elected to a second term in office. At the time of his departure from Congress, Polis was one of seven openly gay members of the 113th Congress and caucused in the LGBT Equality Caucus. He pushed for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and praised the Obama Administration's decision for the Justice Department to no longer defend DOMA. Polis also credited Obama for openly endorsing gay marriage, calling it "welcome news to American families." Polis was an original cosponsor of H.R. 116, the Respect for Marriage Act. H.R. 116 repealed DOMA, allowing marriage recognition for gay and lesbian couples in the U.S., the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Among other accomplishments, Polis was also the leading sponsor of the Student Non-Discrimination Act with Senator Al Franken, who introduced the act in the Senate. Polis also voted for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which prohibited openly gay and lesbian members of the military from serving. In addition, Polis supported and cosponsored the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, giving adequate funding and ability to federal authorities to investigate hate crimes, and advocated for protections for LGBT victims of domestic violence to be included in the Violence Against Women Act.

Honorable Mentions

TINA KOTEK Christine Kotek (born September 30, 1966) is an American politician serving as the 39th governor of Oregon since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Kotek served eight terms as the state representative from the 44th district in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2007 to 2022, as majority leader of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, and as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2013 to 2022. She won the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election, defeating Republican nominee Christine Drazan and independent candidate Betsy Johnson. Kotek became the first openly lesbian woman elected speaker of a U.S. state house in 2013. She was the longest-serving Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. In 2022, she became one of the first two openly lesbian women (alongside Maura Healey) and the third openly LGBT person (alongside Healey and after her predecessor Kate Brown and Jared Polis) elected governor of a U.S. state, as well as the third woman elected governor of Oregon (after Barbara Roberts and Kate Brown). As speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives and governor, Kotek has spearheaded legislation to increase housing production in Oregon to alleviate the state's housing crisis. In 2019, as speaker, she spearheaded legislation to make Oregon the first state to remove single-family-exclusive zoning across the state, permitting duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in residential neighborhoods previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes. In 2024, as governor, her top legislative priority was putting $376 million toward housing production, as well as easing the rules for housing development. ELAINE NOBLE Elaine Noble (born January 22, 1944) is an American politician and LGBT activist who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for two terms starting in January 1975. She was the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to a state legislature. She served two terms as representative for the Fenway-Kenmore and Back Bay neighborhoods of Boston. As an educator, Noble supported desegregation of Boston public schools. She encouraged her campaigners to oversee school pick-ups and drop-offs for children in her district. She was the only white member of the Boston delegation that rode school busses with the children. Her support angered her constituents, both conservative as well as gay and lesbian, who expected her to focus solely on gay and lesbian issues. Her house was vandalized, and she was threatened with a gun. She also felt burdened and frustrated by the demands of gay men and lesbians who seemed to expect that she speak for all of them. Noble was an early critic of Father Paul Shanley, a Catholic priest who was ultimately convicted of sex crimes in 2005. She reported Shanley's comments and behavior to Boston officials on several occasions in the 1970s to no avail. Noble was re-elected in 1976 with almost 90% of the vote, and her second two-year term started on January 1, 1977. In March 1977, Noble was part of the first delegation of gay men and lesbians invited to the White House under President Jimmy Carter to discuss issues important to the LGBT community. After two terms in the Massachusetts House, Noble ran for the United States Senate in 1978. She finished last out of five Democrats who competed in the primary. She did not run for re-election to the House. She later went to work for Mayor of Boston Kevin White. After leaving Mayor White's office, Noble established Noble Consulting, a healthcare consulting group. In 1986, Noble and Ellen Ratner formed an LGBT alcohol and drug treatment center in Minneapolis called the Pride Institute. She attempted to establish a similar center in Massachusetts but was rebuffed by local government. Noble ran unsuccessfully for the Cambridge, Massachusetts city council in 1991 and 1993. In 1994, Noble took work as head administrator at Middlesex County Hospital but resigned after six months. In 2009, she made a rare fundraising appearance at a Stonewall gala benefiting Compass Community Center in Lake Worth, Florida. Noble had a relationship with writer Rita Mae Brown in the 1970s and has since retained privacy regarding her personal life. She lives in Florida, where she is still active in the Democratic Party. MAUREE TURNER Mauree Nivek Rajah Salima Turner (born 1992 or 1993) is an American politician and community organizer. A member of the Democratic Party, they served as a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2021 to 2024. Turner is the first publicly non-binary U.S. state lawmaker and the first Muslim member of the Oklahoma Legislature. In the 2020 elections, Turner ran as a Democrat for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in district 88. Turner's 2020 election campaign was focused on criminal justice reform, public education, and raising the minimum wage. Turner in the primary election and was backed by U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. In the general election, they defeated Kelly Barlean, the Republican nominee, in a landslide, with approximately 71% of the vote. During the general election, Turner was also endorsed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Turner is the first publicly non-binary US state lawmaker and the first Muslim member of the Oklahoma Legislature. Turner was an outspoken critic of multiple anti-LGBT bills proposed in the legislature. Specifically, Turner worked against bills that would seek to bar transgender athletes from competing in the sports of their gender. Turner was reelected in 2022. On February 28, 2023, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed H.B. 2177; the bill would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. During protests that day, a protester allegedly tossed water on Representative Bob Ed Culver Jr. and had a physical interaction with a police officer. After the altercation, the protester was locked in Turner's office; The Oklahoma Highway Patrol alleged Turner refused to unlock the office when they communicated with them through the door. On March 7, the Republican-controlled Oklahoma House voted along party lines to censure Representative Turner. They were also removed from their committee assignments until a written apology is sent to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Speaker Charles McCall. Turner denied wrongdoing, saying "I just provide my office as space of grace and love for all the folks in all communities that seek refuge from the hate in this building... Trans people don't feel safe here." They also declined to apologize, stating "I think an apology for loving the people of Oklahoma is something that I cannot do." Oklahoma House Democrats criticized the censure because no investigation was done before the censure, Turner had not committed a crime, and because multiple members of the Republican majority that were facing indictment had yet to be censured. Citing personal health issues, Turner did not run for a third term. MAURA HEALEY Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 2015 to 2023 and was elected governor in 2022. Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she led the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She was then appointed chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau and then chief of the Business and Labor Bureau, before resigning, in 2013, to run for attorney general in 2014. She defeated former State Senator Warren Tolman in the Democratic primary and Republican attorney John Miller in the general election. Healey was reelected in 2018. She was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2022. In 2014, Healey became the first openly lesbian woman elected attorney general of a U.S. state and the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in Massachusetts. In 2022, she became one of the first two openly lesbian women (alongside Tina Kotek) and the joint-third openly LGBT person (alongside Kotek and after Kate Brown and Jared Polis) elected governor of a U.S. state, as well as the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts.