Politics

Assemblyman John Pérez, an openly gay Latino Democrat from Los Angeles, made history Thursday when he was unanimously chosen by the California Assembly’s Democratic Caucus as the lower house’s leader, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Pérez, a freshman lawmaker who is expected to be formally voted in as the 68th Assembly Speaker in January, will […]

Democratic Assemblyman John Perez of Los Angeles is about to become the California’s first openly gay speaker of the Assembly. The position will make Perez the highest-ranking gay politician in California history. The speaker is generally considered the second or third most powerful position in state politics, after the governor and the Senate president pro […]

Utah’s first openly gay state senator will be resigning from office effective the end of this week to focus more time on practicing law, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. Democratic state Sen. Scott McCoy, announced Tuesday that he had already decided that he wasn’t going to seek re-election when his term is up next year. […]

Voters in Georgia have elected the first openly lesbian African-American state legislator in the U.S. In a runoff election on Dec. 1, Simone Bell was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives. Simone has worked for more than 20 years as an activist and advocate in Atlanta and throughout the south. She’s tackled issues […]

CAMPBELL, Calif. –Sleepy, suburban Campbell’s City Council elected one of the youngest gay and youngest Asian American mayors in the country at a meeting Tuesday night, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The council promoted Evan Low, 26, from vice mayor to a one-year term as mayor of the 38,000-resident Silicon Valley city. “He’ll have his […]

A Republican political hopeful interested in serving as governor of Massachusetts announced Monday he has chosen Richard R. Tisei, an openly gay state legislator, to be his running mate in the 2010 gubernatorial election, reports CBS News. “Want you to be the first to know: I’ve chosen State Senator Richard Tisei as my running mate,” […]

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has sent the White House two suggestions for the post of U.S. attorney in San Antonio. One of the candidates is a highly regarded career prosecutor and judge who also, it turns out, is openly gay, reports the Dallas Morning News. Some Republicans are vehemently and unapologetically not ready for […]

Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, says he’d rather see gay rights supporters lobbying their elected officials than marching in Washington this weekend, calling the demonstration “a waste of time at best,” reports Associated Press. Frank said in an interview with AP that he considers such demonstrations to be “an emotional release” […]

LOS ANGELES — L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief Executive Officer Lorri L. Jean issued a statement yesterday, calling Assemblymember Michael Duvall’s extra-marital affairs “despicable.” “Even as he resigns in shame, former California Assemblymember Michael Duvall is wallowing in hypocrisy. While engaging in extra-marital affairs, he used ‘family values’ as a justification to vote against […]

SACRAMENTO — A Republican state assemblyman in California resigned Wednesday amid growing outrage over a videotape that caught him bragging in graphic detail about having sex with a female lobbyist and another woman. Mike Duvall, 54, whose votes on family-oriented bills received high marks from conservatives, said he is quitting because his “inappropriate comments have […]