Gays and lesbians win big at the polls

In addition to the three victories in the Massachusetts legislature, roughly three dozen other openly gay and lesbian candidates prevailed on the national, state, and local levels on November 2. Some stood out as important reelections while others were first time wins in traditionally unfriendly states. All three out gay or lesbian incumbents in the U.S. House of Representatives retained their seats: Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin; Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank; and Arizona Republican Jim Kolbe.

In a round of milestones for several state governments, Julia Boseman became the first-ever lesbian in the North Carolina senate, Nicole LeFavour the first in the Idaho state house, and Jeanette Mott Oxford the only gay or lesbian member of the Missouri legislature--in a state that last August overwhelmingly passed a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. All three are Democrats, as is Vermont's Ed Flanagan, who lost his 2000 bid to become the first openly gay U.S. senator so this year ran for and won a state senate seat instead.

Other gay or lesbian Democratic victors in state legislatures included Christine Kehoe, Sheila James Kuehl, John Laird, and Mark Leno in California; Jennifer Veiga in Colorado; Art Feltman in Connecticut; Karla Drenner in Georgia; Lawrence Bliss in Maine; Chris Kolb in Michigan; Karen Clark in Minnesota; David Parks in Nevada; Tom Duane in New York; Jackie Biskupski in Utah; and Jason Lorber in Vermont.

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