Harvey Milk is often celebrated as the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Did you know, however, that Kathy Kozachenko was actually the first openly gay or lesbian person elected to public office in the United States? She won a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan city counsel in 1974, three years before Harvey Milk was elected as a supervisor in San Francisco.

Use the internet to research information about openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and/or queer politicians in the US. See if you can find how many out US politicians ran for public office before 1972. You can also research when certain “firsts” came about in the US – like the first openly gay presidential candidate or the first transgender elected official.

Write a report for your History or English class about LGBTQ people in politics. You can also teach what you’ve learned at a GSA meeting.

We’d love for you to the results of your research so we can share it with other GSAs!