List of LGBT politicians in the United States

This is a chronological list of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender politicians who have held office in the United States. Historical figures are included only if there is documented evidence of an open queer identity.

Most out LGBT politicians in the U.S. are part of the Democratic Party, which has taken a more favorable stance than Republicans towards LGBT rights.[1][2]

Federal

State

Executive

Name (lifespan)	Party	State	Office Held (tenure)	Notes
Kate Brown (born 1960)	Democratic	Oregon	Governor (2015 - )	Openly bisexual First openly LGBT person elected governor in the U.S.[3]
Jared Polis (born 1975)	Democratic	Colorado	Governor (2019 - )	First openly gay man to be elected governor in the U.S.[4]

Legislative

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Name (lifespan)	Party	State	Office Held (tenure)	Notes
Richard Tisei (born 1962)	Republican	Massachusetts	Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 22th Middlesex district (1985 - 1991) Massachusetts Senate from the Middlesex and Essex district (1991 - 2011)	Lived with his partner, Bernie Starr, since 1994;[5] they married in 2013[6]
Kate Brown (born 1960)	Democratic	Oregon	State Senate (1997 - 2009) State House of Representatives (1991 - 1997)	Openly bisexual.[3]
Patrick Guerriero (born 1968)	Republican	Massachusetts	Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 35th Middlesex district (1993 - 1998)	Came out publicly as gay while running for lieutenant governor in 2002[7]
Reed Gusciora (born 1960)	Democratic	New Jersey	Mayor of Trenton (2018 - ) New Jersey General Assembly from the 15th district (1996 - 2018)	First openly gay member of the New Jersey state legislature[8]
Althea Garrison (born 1940)	Independent	Massachusetts	Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 5th Suffolk district (2002 - 2010)	First trans person to hold state office; outed against her will[9] Affiliated Democratic and Republican at different points in her career
Roy Ashburn (born 1954)	Republican	California	California State Senate from the 18th district (2002 - 2010)	Came out as gay after leaving office[10]
Kyrsten Sinema (born 1976)	Democratic	Arizona	State Senate (2011 - 2012) State House of Representatives (2005 - 2011)	Openly bisexual[11]
Tim Eustace (born 1957)	Democratic	New Jersey	New Jersey General Assembly from the 38th district (2012 - 2018) Mayor of Maywood, New Jersey (2008 - 2011)	Second openly gay person ever elected to the New Jersey Legislature[12]
Shevrin Jones (born 1983)	Democratic	Florida	Florida House of Representatives from the 101st district (2012 - )	First openly LGBT black person elected to the Florida Legislature[13]
Mark Levine (born 1966)	Democratic	Virginia	Virginia House of Delegates from the 45th district (2016 - )	Openly gay Congressman elected to Virginia House of Delegates[14]
Gerri Cannon (born 1953)	Democratic	New Hampshire	New Hampshire House of Representatives from the Strafford 18th district (2018 - )	One of 7 trans candidates to win election in the U.S. in 2017[15]
Danica Roem (born 1984)	Democratic	Virginia	Virginia House of Delegates from the 13th district (2018 - )	First openly trans elected official in the U.S.[16]
Sonya Jaquez Lewis (born 1957)	Democratic	Colorado	Colorado House of Representatives from the 12th district (2019 - )	First Latina and the first LGBTQ person ever elected to the Colorado General Assembly from Boulder County, Colorado[17]
Malcolm Kenyatta (born 1990)	Democratic	Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 181st district (2019 - )	First openly LGBT+ person of color elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly[18]
Brandon Woodard (born 1990)	Democratic	Kansas	Kansas House of Representatives from the 30th district (2019 - )	First openly gay member of the Kansas House of Representatives[19]

Local

Executive

Name	Party	State	Office Held (tenure)	Notes
Annise Parker (born 1956)	Democratic[lower-alpha 1]	Texas	Mayor of Houston (2010 - 2016)	First openly LGBTQ mayor of a top 10 American city (by population)[20]
Pete Buttigieg (born 1982)	Democratic	Indiana	Mayor of South Bend (2012 - 2020)	Came out as gay in 2015,[21] and married Chasten Glezman in 2018[22]
Jenny Durkan (born 1958)	Democratic[lower-alpha 1]	Washington	Mayor of Seattle (2017 - )	Seattle's first lesbian mayor[23]
Liz Ordiales (born 1959)	Nonpartisan	Georgia	Mayor of Hiawassee (2017 - )	Openly lesbian mayor

Legislative

Name	Party	State	Office Held (tenure)	Notes
Andrea Jenkins (born 1961)	Democratic	Minnesota	Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council (2018 - )	Along with Phillipe Cunningham, became the first openly trans Black elected officials in the U.S.[24] and the first trans woman[25]
Phillipe Cunningham (born 1982)	Democratic	Minnesota	Minneapolis City Council from the 4th Ward (2018 - )	Along with Andrea Jenkins, became the first openly trans Black elected officials in the U.S.[26] and the first trans man[27]
Althea Garrison (born 1940)	Independent	Massachusetts	Boston City Council councilor at-large (2019 - 2020)	Also served in Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2002 - 2010; see above[9]

See also

• LGBT conservatism in the United States

Notes

1. Elected on a nonpartisan basis but the person in question publicly identifies with a political party.

References

1. Phillips, Amber (June 15, 2020). "Analysis | How out of step is the Republican Party on gay rights?". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
2. Lerer, Lisa; Russonello, Giovanni; Paz, Isabella Grullón (June 17, 2020). "On L.G.B.T.Q. Rights, a Gulf Between Trump and Many Republican Voters". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
3. "For First Time, Openly LGBT Governor Elected: Oregon's Kate Brown". NPR.org. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
4. Smith, David (April 5, 2019). "What it's like being America's first openly gay governor". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
5. CK Wolfson (September 8, 2010). "Katama resident Richard Tisei: a quiet political presence — until now". Martha's Vineyard Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
6. Stephanie Ebert (March 21, 2014). "Richard Tisei to boycott GOP convention". Boston Globe.
7. "Swift Names Guerriero As Running Mate: Former Staff Member Is Openly Gay". The Boston Channel. January 3, 2002. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
8. "The 15 Most Influential LGBT Advocates in NJ Politics". Observer. April 20, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
9. Osberg, Molly (November 8, 2017). "The Tragic Story of Althea Garrison, the First Trans Person to Hold State Office in America". Splinter. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
10. Christine Bedell (March 8, 2010). "Roy Ashburn: "I am gay"". Bakersfield Californian. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
11. "Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema to be first openly bisexual U.S. senator". azcentral. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
12. NJ.com, Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for (April 12, 2018). "Groundbreaking Democrat to resign from N.J. Assembly". nj. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
13. Lang 4/12/2019, Nico. "Shevrin Jones, Florida's First Black and Gay Lawmaker, Is Ready to Make History—Again". LOGO News. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
14. "LGBTQ political candidates score historic victories across U.S." NBC News. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
15. "NH's Rainbow City | Transgender activist". NH Rainbow City. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
16. Manchester, Julia (November 5, 2019). "Danica Roem wins reelection in Virginia state legislature". TheHill. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
17. "Voterly". Voterly. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
18. Zipkin, Michele (January 30, 2020). "Out State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta endorsed by local Service Employees International Union". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
19. "First openly gay person elected to Kansas House". KMBC. November 7, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
20. Imse, Elliot. "Annise Parker". LGBTQ Victory Institute. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
21. Peters, Jeremy W. (July 14, 2019). "Pete Buttigieg's Life in the Closet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
22. Tribune, Mary Shown South Bend. "Mayor Pete Buttigieg marries partner Chasten Glezman in downtown South Bend". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
23. "Seattle has just elected its first lesbian mayor". The Independent. November 8, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
24. "LGBTQ political candidates score historic victories across U.S." NBC News. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
25. Chia, Jessica. "First openly transgender African American woman elected to public office in U.S." nydailynews.com. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
26. Burns, Katelyn (December 3, 2019). "Andrea Jenkins is one of the first Black, trans elected officials. She's building bridges". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
27. "Phillipe Cunningham makes history as Minnesota trans male candidate". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. November 8, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2020.