LGBT Politicians and Political Figures
Roberta Achtenberg (July 20, 1950 – )
Roberta Achtenberg worked for 15 years as a civil rights attorney, including co-founding what is now the National Center for Lesbian Rights, before being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1990. She resigned in 1993 after she was appointed by President Clinton to serve as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she was the first LGBT person to face a Senate confirmation hearing. In 1995, she ran for Mayor of San Francisco, finishing third. In 2011, President Obama appointed her to serve on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Tom Ammiano (December 15, 1941 – )
Tom Ammiano is a former San Francisco school teacher who in 1975 was the first public school teacher to make his sexual orientation known. He ran for the San Francisco Board of Public Education in 1980 and 1988, finally getting elected in 1990. He served as the Board of Ed’s vice president in 1991 and then its president in 1992. He served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1994 to 2008, serving as President of the Board of Supervisors from 1999 to 2002. In 1999, he mounted a write-in campaign for mayor against the incumbent, Willie Brown, making the run-off but losing in the end. He has served in the California State Assembly since 2008, but will leave office at the end of the year due to term limits.
Harry Britt (June 8, 1938 – )
After Harvey Milk’s assassination in 1978, newly-elevated Mayor Dianne Feinstein appointed Harry Britt – one of four people Milk had listed as a suitable successor – as his replacement on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was reelected to the Board in 1979, 1980, 1984, and 1988, serving as Board President from 1989 to 1990. In 1987, he ran for U.S. Congress in a special election to fill the vacancy when Sala Burton died, narrowly losing the primary to Nancy Pelosi. In 2002, he ran for the Democratic nomination for the California State Assembly, losing to Mark Leno.
David Campos (September 28, 1970 – )
David Campos was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2008. He is ran for the California State Assembly in 2014, losing to David Chiu. He left the Board of Supervisors in December 2016 due to term limits. He previously served as an appointed member of the San Francisco Police Commission from 2005 through 2008.
Bevan Dufty (February 27, 1955 – )
Bevan Dufty was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2002, representing District 8 – which includes the Castro and is essentially Harvey Milk’s old district. He was re-elected in 2006, leaving office at the end of 2010 due to term limits. He ran for Mayor of San Francisco in 2011 in a crowded field, ultimately losing to the appointed incumbent, Ed Lee. He currently works at the Director of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement (HOPE) for the City of San Francisco.
David Huebner (1960 – )
David Huebner was nominated by President Obama in 2009 to serve as United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, becoming the first openly-LGBT person to pass a Senate confirmation hearing for an Ambassadorial post. (Previously, James Hormel of San Francisco served as Ambassador to Luxembourg when President Clinton used a recess appointment, bypassing a Senate filibuster.) The Smithsonian recently announced that some of Huebner’s artifacts would be displayed as part of their new LGBT collection.
Leslie Katz
Leslie Katz served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1996 through 2000. She has served as a Commissioner for the Port of San Francisco since 2011, and as its President since January 2014. She has served as an elected member and past chair of the Democratic County Central Committee since 2000.
Susan Leal
Susan Leal was appointed by Mayor Frank Jordan to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in June of 1993 to replace Roberta Achtenberg, and was re-elected the following year to a four-year term. In 1997, Mayor Willie Brown appointed her Treasurer of San Francisco, winning re-election for the job in 2001. In 2003, she ran for Mayor of San Francisco, ultimately losing to Gavin Newsom. In 2004, Newsom appointed her as General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. After her term, she became a Senior Fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard where she focuses on water crisis issues.
Mark Leno (September 24, 1951 – )
Mark Leno, a small businessman as owner and operator of Budget Signs, was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors by Mayor Willie Brown in April of 1998 to replace Susan Leal, and was re-elected in November of 1998 and then in the newly-redistricted District 8 in 2000. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002, 2004, and 2006. In 2008, he was elected to the California State Senate after beating the incumbent, Carole Migden in the primary. He was re-elected in 2012.
Rafael Mandelman
Rafael Mandelman was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in a special election held in June of 2018, and then in November was elected to a full term that runs through 2013. He was previously elected to the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees. Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, he served as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Oakland in the Redevelopment, Real Estate & Rent Unit.
Carole Migden (August 14, 1948 – )
Carole Migden was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1990, serving from 1991 through 1996, when she was elected to the California State Assembly. She served in the Assembly until 2002, when she was elected to the California State Senate. But in 2008 she left office after losing a bitter primary battle to Mark Leno.
Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978)
After running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1973 and 1975, and then for the California State Assembly in 1976, Harvey Milk was finally elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the most high-profile gay person in the country. But he only served 11 months before being assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White.
Christina Olague
Christina Olague, who is bisexual, was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee in January 2012 to replace Ross Mirkarimi on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors after he was elected Sheriff. But she only served a year, losing to London Breed when she was up for re-election.
Jeff Sheehy
Jeff Sheehy, a longtime AIDS activist who served as a communications director for UCSF AIDS Research Institute, was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee in January 2017 to fill the Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Scott Wiener’s election to the California State Senate. He lost the special election to retain his seat in June of 2018 to Rafael Mandelman.
Scott Wiener (May 11, 1970 – )
Scott Wiener was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2010, representing the district that covers the Castro and Noe Valley, to replace Bevan Dufty, who left office due to term limits. He is currently running for re-election.
