Governor Kate Brown made history last night becoming the first openly LGBT person to win election as governor in the United States.
The landmark was reached in Oregon, where Brown was the incumbent in her race – but running for election for the first time.
She is the first openly bisexual governor in the nation.
A Democrat, Brown’s experience includes 17 years in the state legislature, and was the first woman to serve as Oregon’s Senate majority leader. Before running for elected office, she was a child advocate and a juvenile and family law attorney. She also taught at Portland State University, worked with the Juvenile Rights Project, and cofounded the Oregon Women’s Health and Wellness Alliance, according to her campaign website.
“I am so honored to be serving as your governor for the next two years,” Brown told a crowd at the Oregon Convention Center. “Thank you so very much. I will fight to make sure that our schools open the doors of opportunity for all of our students, I will fight to make sure our economy grows in every single corner of the state, and I will fight to preserve beauty and bounty of Oregon for generations to come.”
She spoke to the Washington Blade last month about what her victory would mean.
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” she said. “If I can be a role model for one young person that decides that their life is worth living because there’s someone like them in the world, it’s worth it.”
It also shows that the entire country is not homophobic or wants to treat the LGBT population as second-class citizens.
