This diary is rather breif and I apologize for it but I wanted to share some amazing news from the Golden State tonight. California has made history by having its Assemblymembers elect the first openly gay Assembly Speaker.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/...
First-term Assemblyman, John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles), who represents the 46th Assembly District, has been selected as the next Speaker of the California State Assembly and will replace Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) who is term limited. This marks the first time in American history that a state legislative body will be led by an openly gay person. Perez is used to history making. When Perez was elected last year, he made history as the first openly gay Latino elected to the State Legislature.
Apparently, the vote was unanimous too (his chief rival Kevin DeLeon endorsed him).
I have to say that I am very proud and truly amazed by this development. Looking back just 10 years ago, this would have been unthinkable. The attitudes and anti-gay biases would have been far too much for someone like John Perez to overcome. But here we are. The progress of the LGBT rights movement has been truly incredible and California continues to lead the way (not withstanding blips like Prop 8). I've seen a lot of Kossack queers get down a lot over the defeats and setbacks we've seen but I think that it must be realized that true battles for equality are never fought and won overnight. This was true of racial and gender equality. And it will be true of sexual orientation equality.
Although Perez's victory is in some ways a political victory that is personal to him, because he has made history as our state's first openly gay Speaker (and the first in the country), his victory is meaningful to the cause of greater civil rights.
Other California LGBT Civil Rights Milestones:
- First openly gay non-incumbent to win elected office (Harvey Milk in 1977)
- First defeat of a statewide anti-gay initiative (Briggs Amendment in 1978)
- First openly gay mayor in America (Robert Gentry, elected to be Laguna Beach's Mayor in 1982)
- First City to elect a majority openly gay City Council (West Hollywood in 1984)
- First openly gay female mayor in America (Valerie Terrigno, elected West Hollywood's Mayor in 1984)
- First openly gay person to become a judge via election (Kevin M. McCarthy, 1996)
- First openly LGBT Legislative Caucus (2002)
- First State Legislature to pass legislation legalizing same-sex marriage (2005 and 2007)
- First State Supreme Court to declare sexual orientation a suspect classification (California Supreme Court in 2008)
- First State to enact a Harvey Milk Day (California in 2009)