No limits.

Gay politicians are finding that local voters care about leadership, not sexual orientation

It should be no surprise that Jeffrey Prang decided to run for public office. As a kid in Warren, Mich., Prang knocked on doors for the Democratic Party and rose to be a precinct delegate to his county's Democratic convention before he turned 20. A student of public policy and international relations, Prang had his sights set on the world.

Then he moved to West Hollywood, Calif., and became part of the small city's political fabric. A decade later Prang became a candidate himself, and in March he won a spot on West Hollywood's city council.

Now Prang is looking no further than the 1.9-square-mile city of 37,000--the city sandwiched between western Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, the city where gay men and lesbians make up an estimated one third of the population. With Prang's election, West Hollywood has a gay majority on its city council for the first time in 12 years.

"I used to think more broadly [about my future in politics], but if the objective is to create good public policy, then I'm already home," says Prang, a 34-year-old with textbook candidate looks--short and neat brown hair; a strong, handsome face; and a well-toned physique. Plus, he takes to heart a political truism often said by the late Tip O'Neil, the larger-than-life Massachusetts Democrat and former speaker of the House: "All politics is local."

Prang is not alone. Across the country, lesbians and gay men are finding a home in city and county politics. They're discovering that they can be the first line in the fight for gay rights. "I certainly do feel I have a special obligation to protect the interests of the gay and lesbian community," says Mike Verveer, 28, who on April 1 won a second term to the Madison, Wis., city council.

Verveer, one of two openly gay people on the city council, has had that obligation tested. Shortly after his first election in 1995, he found himself fighting a police proposal to crack down on cruising at a city park. He's also been a vocal critic of a city firefighter who is a high-profile opponent of homosexuality. And he had to convince his colleagues to give tax breaks so that a landmark hotel that served as the city's "unofficial gay community center" could be rebuilt after a devastating fire. (In the end, the project died for other reasons.)

Barbra Kavanaugh describes her role as the sole lesbian on the Buffalo, N.Y., city council as "advocacy by presence." A visible member of Buffalo's gay and lesbian community, Kavanaugh says others asked her for years to run, but she resisted until she participated in a seminar for potential gay candidates. "Someone convinced me it was almost like jury duty," the 42-year-old says.

"You have to have a voice at the table," says Tina Podlodowski, 36, a member of Seattle's city council since 1995. Like the other eight people who serve on the council, Podlodowski had to run citywide, which meant that she had to court the votes of 550,000 people.

Once she took her very pregnant partner to a campaign stop in a conservative part of Seattle. An 85-year-old man approached them and, pointing to her partner's belly, asked if she was responsible for the soon-to-be-born child. Podlodowski gave a cautious yes. The man's response: "I'm voting for you because if you can do that, you can do anything."

While local politics are usually known for their civility, that didn't prevent Podlodowski's opponent from describing himself in the media as a "heterosexual, Christian father." Voters may not have understood the code words, but they understood Podlodowski's platform of better, more efficient government.

By the end of the campaign Podlodowski received 65% of the votes cast. Now, to gay political operatives, Podlodowski is more than just a successful local politician. She's a rising star, the kind of public figure who is destined to be Seattle's mayor or a state legislator or even a member of Congress.

"This is a change for the people of our community to show that we get things done," says Brian Bond, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a national group based in Washington, D.C., that works to get lesbians and gay men elected to office. According to the Victory Fund, more than half of the 129 openly gay and lesbian elected officials in the country serve in city or county government, as council members or as mayors.

"Cities and counties are a great place for those who want to make a difference at a community level," Bond says. "It's also an excellent training ground for those who do seek higher office." Bond points to the Christian Coalition's success in fielding candidates at the most basic levels of government, then nurturing those candidates as they move up the political ladder. "If our people choose to seek a higher office," he says, "we have to emulate the Christian Coalition."

Few gays and lesbians in local politics will admit to being ambitious. And others seem genuinely committed to staying put. "I'm not at this point of my life interested in commuting to Sacramento or to Washington," says Richard Gordon, 48, a former member of the San Mateo, Calif., school board. On April 8 Gordon was elected to the San Mateo County board of supervisors.

Without hesitation, Gordon says the presence of gays and lesbians can make a profound difference on how governments work. When the school board was considering a new batch of union contracts, Gordon pointed out that the contracts' language on family leave had no provision for the partners of gay employees.

It was something his fellow board members obviously had never considered before, but they sided with Gordon once he pointed it out. "I don't think people are out to do us harm, but they are just not thinking about how they can do us good," he says.

Pointing to a successful record helping the public at large is one way gays and lesbians are securing their political futures despite their minority status. For Los Angeles councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, a record of civic activism was the key to her success. "People knew me from the new library project or getting a pool for the community center or stopping a new highway branch from coming through. Voters want to know you've paid your dues," she says.

A high school teacher by trade, Goldberg spent eight years on the Los Angeles school board prior to becoming a councilwoman. At first she was not openly gay--in deference to an agreement she made with her then-teenage son. Yet when she was outed by a gay political activist during her first bid for city council in 1993, her orientation did not become an issue.

While such liberal attitudes might be expected in a district close to Hollywood, Mike Nelson, 33, the mayor of Carrboro, N.C., experienced a similar degree of tolerance in 1995 when he ran for office. The state has laws requiring jail time for sodomy convictions, but this particular city serves as a bedroom community for the liberal-minded University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Even before Nelson was elected, the city of Carrboro was already progressive enough to have passed a nondiscrimination-in-hiring policy.

He says sexual orientation is of lesser concern to voters than pressing city business. "The issues people really wanted to talk about when I went door-to-door in my campaign were traffic, growth, taxes, and garbage," Nelson explains.

Christine Kehoe, a member of San Diego's city council, echoes Nelson's contention that voters are more concerned with a candidate's taxation orientation than his or her sexual orientation. The issues she confronts most often are things like streetlights and controlling crime.

Kehoe made law and order the key part of her campaign in this Republican-dominated Navy town of 1.2 million. (California's conservative Republican governor Pete Wilson hails from San Diego, where he served as mayor.) And her grasp of city issues and emphasis on crime made her a success where previous out candidates had failed.

Rarely does her identity as a lesbian come up. "People are aware of it," Kehoe says somewhat nonchalantly before she acknowledges that the city council agreed to a domestic-partnership policy for its city employees only after she got elected. "We're kind of a conservative city. We're not the type to go for extremes, and I fit that mold."

Jay Fisette, an unsuccessful candidate in 1993 for a seat on the Arlington County board in Virginia, understands extremes. He believes that people weren't threatened so much by his being gay but by his being open about it. More recently, though, Fisette, 41, says the gay population has become more integrated into the community as a whole. How integrated? The gay and lesbian alliance's booth won a blue ribbon at last year's county fair.

However, Fisette cautions that gay candidates need to be especially mindful of issues affecting children. "One thing a gay candidate clearly must convey is that you understand the needs of parents around education," he says. "People forget that we grew up as children, in families.

"Arlington is not West Hollywood," Fisette continues. "There aren't many West Hollywoods around actually." Even West Hollywood isn't necessarily a utopia for gay politicians.

Founded 13 years ago when its residents wanted more control over their lives, the city has always had a strong gay and lesbian presence in its politics. Its first city council had a gay majority, but that ended after one year. After the March elections this year, three of the five council members--newcomer Prang and incumbents John Heilman and Steve Martin--are gay.

But the politics of West Hollywood have changed. Just because there are three gay men on the council doesn't mean they're allies. In fact, Heilman and Martin are fierce political opponents and Prang comes in aligned more with Martin. The issues of conflict are not gay issues: West Hollywood long ago enacted policies other cities now are considering, such as antidiscrimination statutes and domestic-partnership protections.

Heilman says the focus placed on West Hollywood because it has a gay majority on its city council is "Overblown," although he agrees there's a symbolic importance to it. "If we really care about diversity, it can't just be a power grab for gays and lesbians," says Heilman as he acknowledges the political rifts between gay members of the council. "We have to be about coalition building."

"We don't need to elect the one person who is going to fight for gay rights and AIDS sensitivity," says Prang, who was one of six gay and lesbian candidates in the city council race. "In West Hollywood we've achieved that level playing field."

Other cities with large gay and lesbian populations--such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York--all have at least one gay person elected to a prominent local office. "When the gay and lesbian supervisors speak out and say, `This is important,' the other eight members of the board are likely to take us seriously," says Susan Lea one of three gay and lesbian members of the San Francisco board of supervisors. Leal, like her gay colleagues, had to run citywide--not just in San Francisco's famed gay neighborhoods--which required a broad message.

Deborah Glick, who now represents a New York City district with a sizable gay population in the state assembly, is running to become Manhattan borough president. That means that instead of hunting for votes among 125,000 people in the East and West Village, TriBeCa, and SoHo, Glick must court Manhattan's 1.5 million tremendously diverse residents.

"I don't think there is a special message that's tailored to our community," says Glick, whose campaign this year is the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund's top priority. "You need a strong, cohesive message for everyone, and part of that message is that the gay and lesbian community does not have equality."

RELATED ARTICLE: Location, location, location

FOR LOTS OF LESBIANS AND GAY MEN, cities are the oases to which they have fled after passing through the deserts of small-town America. But not all cities are equally friendly; in some, being otu of the closet makes you part of the crowd, while in others a rainbow decal on your bumper is an act of defiance. Where you live makes a difference in how you live.

The Advocate set out to determine the 20 mst livable cities in the United States for gay men and lesbians. The most fundamental criterion we used in our selection process? Legal protection from antigay discrimination. Does the city have such ordinances in effect? Or is it located in a state with such laws? But the ideal city for lesbians and gay men should also include the following: and annual gay pride celeberation, as a sign of visibility; a community center, a cental place where gays and lesbians can go for services; and array of organizations, religious groups, and health care facilities that cater to the needs of the local gay community; and a gay bookstore and a gay publication so that gays and lesbians can keep up with relevant news and culture nationally and at home.

The list we came up with includes cities that meet all of these lofty goals; several cities on the list, however, do fall short, and we dully note where they are deficient. In researching this topic, The Advocate talked to local activists to get an insider's point of view--they were often their cities' greatest cheerleaders. We also consulted two guides that describes gay life in America: Great Gay & Lesbian Places to Live: The Official Guide, by Lanie Dills and Lynn West, which covers 133 cities; and Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA, by Andrew Collins, which includes 41 cities and resorts.

Invariably, any list will have its omissions. The New Mexico towns of Santa Fe and Taos, for example, are oftern considered among the gay-friendliest cities in the nation, but they lack nondiscrimination ordinances. Despite their appeal, we have also excluded resort town such as Provincetown, Mass,; Palm Springs, Calif.; and Key West. Fla.

Finally, we'd like to single out several cities not on the list but that deserve honorable mention: Albany, N.Y.; Dallas; Hartford, Conn.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Rochester, N.Y.; Sacramento; San Diego; San Jose, Calif.; and Tampa, Fla. These cities underscore the growing reality that gay life is no longer confined to a handful of gay ghettos.

RELATED ARTICLE: THE MOST LIVEABLE PLACES IN AMERICA

10 best cities

1 San Francisco California

TAKE A BEAUTIFUL SETTING with terrific cultural opportunities and add the most progressive pro-gay politics in the nation--no wonder San Francisco is considered the gay capital of the United States. Where else would a mass same-sex wedding ceremony be held at city hall with the mayor presiding? It's also a city where gays and lesbians can live comfortably in any neighborhood. At the moment the city doesn't have a community center, although plans for one are under way. No matter--in its own way the entire city is a community center.

Population:              734,676
Average home cost:      $252,200
Average income:          $37,975
Crime rate:                8,341.8  per 100,000 people:
Unemployment rate:             6.1%

2 New York New York

FOR SHEER SIZE, no place else approaches New York City for the opportunities it offers lesbians and gay men. With a seemingly endless list of events, clubs, and organizations, the problems is how not to be overwhelmed by it all. While most outsiders (and many locals) think of the city as jut the borough of Manhattan, gays and lesbians also live openly and comfortably in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, where a community center just opened in April. Even the most traditional borough, Staten Island, has gay bars and services. Yet New York has its drawbacks, including the persistence of antigay violence and a strong conservative streak that colors citywide politics.

Population:            7,333,253
Average home cost:      $169,000
Average income:          $42,272
Crime rate:                7,226.1  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             8.2%

3 Los Angeles California (including West Hollywood and Long Beach)

WHAT CAN YOU SAY about a city in which the community center resides in a glamorous new building and has a $19-million annual budget? Metro L.A. is so sprawling that it is really a series of communities. While many people think of gay L.A. as primarily West Hollywood--the first town in the country to have gays control the government--lesbians and gay men are just as well represented in Los Angeles, where out lesbian Jackie Goldberg serves on the city council. Some surrounding areas reflect equally open attitudes: Long Beach recently passed a domestic-partnership ordinance. L.A.'s shortcoming: If you're not interested in show business, you may not have a lot to talk about.

Population:            3,882,465
Average home cost:      $172,100(*)
Average income:          $32,445
Crime rate:                7,840  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:            8.9%(*)

(*) L.A. only

4 Atlanta Georgia

THE GAY CAPITAL OF THE SOUTH, and little wonder. With a gay center founded in 1976, two strong gay papers, and a great nightlife, "Hotlanta" has a lot to offer. The city requires that companies it does business with have nondiscrimination policies that cover sexual orientation; at one point it wanted to offer domestic-partner benefits to city employees, but the policy was overturned by a state court. One shortfall: no visible out gay black community.

Population:              396,352
Average home cost:       $98,500
Average income:          $29,952
Crime rate:               16,118.5 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             7.3%

5 Chicago Illinois

FOR A CITY OF ITS SIZE, Chicago remains a well-kept secret, offering many of the advantages of the coastal metropolises with none of the glitz. While the city has a conservative side, Chicago is more often inclusive; for example, gays and lesbians march in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Also, the city council recently voted in favor of domestic-partner benefits for city employees. With its zero-degree winters, though, Chicago is not for the fainthearted.

Population:            2,731,743
Average home cost:      $148,800
Average income:          $32,524
Crime rate:                 NA
Unemployment rate:             6.7%

6 Seattle Washington

THE CITY EVERYONE WANTS TO MOVE TO--to the chagrin of those who just got there. No wonder: The city is an environmental wonderland, ecologically conscious and surrounded by magnificent natural resources. Politically, Seattle is as open as San Francisco, so much so that gays scattered throughout the city instead of feeling the need to be clustered in a ghetto. Seattle also boasts more than 500 gay-friendly businesses. However, despite the presence of a lesbian resource center, there's no center for both men and women.

Population:              520,947
Average home cost:      $160,700
Average income:          $31,550
Crime rate:               10,717.8 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             6.1%

7 Miami Beach Florida

THE STRETCH OF SAND that runs from Miami Beach down the coast is a haven for gay tourists; it's equally pleasant for gay residents. Although Miami Beach is known primarily for its party scene, the city is among the most politically progressive in the country, with gays serving in elected and appointed positions throughout municipal government. As Fodor's notes, the city's police force showed up to join the 1993 Palm Beach, although both are considered a little less cutting-edge. If you're not buff and tan, though, you might feel a bit out of place.

Population:               92,639
Average home cost:      $257,910
Average income:          $22,020
Crime rate:                9,092 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:          NA

8 Boston Massachusetts

FROM SOUTH END TO JAMAICA PLAIN and across the Charles to Cambridge, gays have been, according to Fodor's, "one of the first identifiable segments of Boston's population to settle across the lines of heraldry and race." The city is a thriving intellectual center for queer theorists. It's also the home of openly gay congressman Barney Frank and gay-friendly governor William Weld. Another plus: Gay resorts Provincetown and Ogunquit, Maine, are a short drive away.

Population:              547,725
Average home cost:      $187,300
Average income:          $32,791
Crime rate:                9,534  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:            5.4%

9 Washington D.C.

PER CAPITA there's probably no higher concentration of gays and lesbians in the United States than in the 20009 zip code. On any mild day the sidewalks outside the cafes and restaurants near Dupont Circle are crowded with gays and lesbians soaking up the sun and the scenery. Four national gay groups are located in our nation's capital, and lesbians and gay men are well-represented in the ranks of the city's major employer, the federal government. The downside: There's no community center, and city government has yet to deal with a crumbling infrastructure and an infamous high crime rate.

Population:              567,094
Average home cost:      $152,000
Average income:          $34,891
Crime rate:               11,077.9 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             8.9%

10 Portland Oregon

It doesn't have a community center or a gay bookstore, and it's been the target of antigay activists, but Portland still ranks as a good home for gays and lesbians. Its size belies its small-town atmosphere--it's the kind of place where folks often know one another pretty well. With Mount Hood looming in the distance, Portland's a great place for lovers of the outdoors, but with enough sophistication--in the form of food, clubs, and cafes--to satisfy more urban longings.

Population:              450,777
Average home cost:      $135,800
Average income:          $28,357
Crime rate:               11,815.7  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             4.4%

10 surprises

1 Minneapolis Minnesota (including St. Paul)

MOST PEOPLE THINK OF MINNEAPOLIS as home to Mary Tyler Moore's TV alter ego, Mary Richards--but what you didn't see on the '70s sitcom were the area's several gay neighborhoods, including one nicknamed Dyke Heights. Neighboring St. Paul is more conservative but still has a sizable gay population. The Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council has an impressive $1-million budget and offers a wide range of services. A high-profile alternative music scene, unlike that in other cities, has always included gays and lesbians.

Population:              354,590
Average home cost:      $101,500
Average income:          $30,185
Crime rate:               11,167  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:            3.4%

2 New Orleans Louisiana

ANY CITY WHOSE MOTTO is "Laissez les bon temps rouler" ("Let the good times roll") is bound to appeal to gays, and this eccentric town likes to challenge Atlanta as the gay center of the South. Mardi Gras, in particular, has long had gay overtones, and some of the krewes the secret clubs that march in the parades) are exclusively gay. In the celebrated French Quarter, at least half of the population is estimated to be lesbian or gay. The community is strongly self-supportive; when the city hit the skids with an oil bust ten years ago, gay employers made sure unemployed gays had work. Biggest drawback: a high crime rate and a troubled police force.

Population:              484,149
Average home cost:       $83,500
Average income:          $25,594
Crime rate:               10,089.7  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             7.4%

3 Austin Texas

AN ISLAND IN A SEA of rednecks--perhaps that's too harsh an assessment of the rest of Texas, but Austin does feel as if it were dropped down from somewhere else. The University of Texas and a sizable high-tech industry make for a gay-friendly atmosphere. And the county elected an openly lesbian sheriff. Still, Austin's not quite as progressive as everyone likes to think. In 1994 voters repealed a domestic-partnership ordinance for city workers.

Population:              514,013
Average home cost:      $111,800
Average income:          $26,922
Crime rate:                7,941  per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:            3.3%

4 Tucson Arizona

HOME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, Tucson has a reputation for being a gay-friendly town with a tradition of cultural interests (the city is one of only 14 in the country that boasts a symphony, opera, theater, and ballet). The gay community is rather dispersed, and, according to Fodor's, the bars are "at least a five-minute drive apart." Still, Tucson's respect for diversity makes living here easy. One plus: a strong, visible lesbian community.

Population:              434,726
Average home cost:      $105,400
Average income:          $23,622
Crime rate:               12,254.1 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             3.6%

5 Madison Wisconsin

MADISON IS THE CITY many gays and lesbians dream of when they want to escape urban life. One of the first cities to embrace gay rights. Madison recently had the Supreme Court uphold its nondiscrimination policy when the court rejected an appeal from a woman fined for refusing to accept a lesbian housemate. The city also boasts two openly gay city council members. Located between two lakes, with beautiful parks and homes and everything from a lesbian theater troupe to a gay parenting group, the city offers Midwestern niceness without the high crime rates and housing costs of bigger cities. Madison doesn't have a community center, however.

Population:              194,586
Average home cost:      $121,900
Average income:          $26,364
Crime rate:                4,166.5 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             1.9%

6 Columbus Ohio

THE CITY WITH OHIO'S LARGEST gay population, Columbus has rainbow flags flying throughout several neighborhoods. According to Great Gay & Lesbian Places to Live, the city has 234 gay-friendly businesses, 31 gay organizations, and seven gay publications. Stonewall, Columbus, a political group that also runs the local community center, even has a twice-weekly television show. One novelty (or drawback, depending how you look at it): Columbus is home to largest gay and lesbian bowling league in the country.

Population:           635,913
Average home cost:   $107,200
Average income:       $26,948
Crime rate:            8,696.8 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:       3.4%

7 Detroit Michigan

IT'S A LITTLE ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE, but some gays and lesbians like Detroit for just that reason. More than any other city, Detroit has been bedeviled by the image of urban decay, and many gays live not within the city but in the suburbs of Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, and Fernadale, where they are forming their own neighborhood groups. The gay community shares one problem with the city in general: It tends to be segmented along racial and economics lines.

Population:              992,038
Average home cost:      $105,800
Average income:          $34,706
Crime rate:               11,917.2 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:            10%

8 Baltimore Maryland

FABLE AS AN URBAN COMEBACK legend, Baltimore lacks the size and panache of the gay scene in nearby Washington, D.C., but more than makes up for it in what Fodor's calls "friendly hellos, moderate prices, and low-key pleasures." The home of filmmaker John Waters, the city has a Waters-esque campiness to some of its largely working-class neighborhoods. It also has a thriving gay community; upward of 10,000 people attend Baltimore's gay pride weekend. Like Washington, D.C., Baltimore has the advantage of close proximity to Rehoboth Beach, a popular gay coastal resort in Delaware.

Population:              702,979
Average home cost:      $109,700
Average income:          $28,745
Crime rate:               12,552.2 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             8.3%

9 Denver Colorado

WHEN GAYS THINK OF COLORADO, they often think of Amendment 2, the 1992 antigay ballot measure overturned by the Supreme Court last year. But one's impression of Denver should not be colored by that. A liberal city where the mayor's liaison to the gay community was one of the plaintiffs in the legal challenge to Amendment 2, Denver has moved beyond the bitterness engendered by the measure. If anything, the gay community has become less complacent.

Population:              793,559
Average home cost:      $130,500
Average income:          $30,059
Crime rate:                6,933.1 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             4.8%

10 St. Louis Missouri

IT MAY SEEM A LITTLE SLEEPY to some gay men and lesbians, but St. Louis is a good city to call home. Fodor's describes the community as "large, spread out, and vibrant," as well as "relatively well adjusted." Boasting an excellent gay bookstore, a strong gay paper, and a gay pride festival ranked fifth in size in the country, St. Louis has a direct, working-class appeal for the gays and lesbians who live there. Crime is still a problem, however, and the city, whose population is less than half what it was earlier in the century, is only now shaking its reputation as the nation's premier example of urban flight.

Population:              368,215
Average home cost:       $88,100
Average income:          $28,599
Crime rate:               16,350.7 per 100,000 people
Unemployment rate:             7.6%