World National
©World National / Roger-Luc Chayer

Facts and figures about gay officeholders

Some facts and figures regarding openly gay and lesbian elected officials in the United States:

NUMBERS: Of 511,039 elected federal, state and local officials, 218 are openly gay or lesbian. Of the group, 149 are men, 69 women; 207 are Democrats, 11 Republicans. Three serve in the U.S. House, 47 are state legislators, and the rest are local officials.

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CONGRESS: The openly gay members of Congress are Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.; and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. A Maine legislator, Susan Longley, hoped to join Baldwin as the second uncloseted lesbian in Congress, but narrowly lost the Democratic primary June 11.


Barney Frank

MAYORS: Tempe, Ariz., population 158,000, is the largest city with an openly gay mayor. An openly gay candidate lost a runoff election June 4 in his bid to become mayor of Long Beach, Calif., population 461,000.

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LEGISLATORS: Noteworthy gay legislators include Illinois state Rep. Larry McKeon ( news, bio, voting record), who is HIV ( news - web sites) positive; state Rep. Glen Maxey ( news, bio, voting record), who is stepping down after 10 years as the only openly gay legislator in Texas; and Carol Midgen, who is leaving her San Francisco-area assembly seat to run for statewide office.