In 2000, California State Senator Sheila Kuehl became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be elected to her position, and the first woman to be named speaker pro tempore of the Assembly. When there was little or no precedent, she worked to add protections against discrimination in schools on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill was struck down three times in a row, until a shift occurred in 1999: “I saw how personal the work is to all of us who serve in legislatures,” she recalls. “Everyone, virtually without exception, talked about their families and friends, a brother who had died of AIDS, a sister who had been beaten for being perceived as a lesbian, though she wasn’t...story after story. I felt both the burden and the privilege of being the first gay person elected to our legislature, and a deep connection to our community.” –JB

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