Roberta Achtenberg

San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg – who had addressed the Democratic National Convention in a historic speech in 1992 – was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Anti-LGBTQ+ U.S. senators made her confirmation battle an ugly one – attacking her sexual orientation and family, with one U.S. senator calling her “that damned lesbian.” Yet she won the confirmation battle – by a vote of 51 to 34 – with some senators refusing to vote. She became the first out LGBTQ+ presidential appointee ever confirmed by the U.S. Senate.