Mary Yu was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court in 2014, becoming the first out LGBTQ+, first Asian-American, and first Hispanic woman of the court. She ran successfully in 2016 to complete the term and won reelected in 2016 for a six-year term. Yu served as a judge of the King County Superior Court from 2000 to 2014, and officiated the first same-sex marriages in Washington in 2012. 

Maura Healey, a Harvard graduate with a law degree from Northeastern University, was hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007 to head up the Civil Rights Division. It was there Healey drew national attention as she spearheaded the official state challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In 2009, on Coakley’s orders, Massachusetts filed a complaint alleging that DOMA violated the U.S. Constitution by ignoring and violating state sovereignty after the 2004 ruling legalizing same-sex marriages in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health. The 2010 District Court decision was the first to hold that DOMA was unconstitutional.

Healey was subsequently appointed to head up the Business and Labor Bureau but resigned to run for attorney general. She won in November 2014, becoming America’s first out LGBTQ+ state attorney general.

“My commitment is deeply personal,” Healey told the Huffington Post on March 13, 2014. “I’m a gay person myself, so of course it’s personal. I do feel and hope that equality is everyone’s agenda and everyone’s interest and something that everyone should be behind, but I certainly have a personal commitment to issues of equality.”

Inspired by pioneering out elected official Christine Kehoe, Toni Atkins jumped into politics and has never looked back. Atkins personifies the American Dream. A coal miner’s daughter born into poverty in southwest Virginia, her home had no running water. But Atkins went to college, volunteered for Christine Kehoe’s 1993 campaign to be San Diego’s first out LGBTQ+ city council member, joined Kehoe’s council staff, then won that seat when her mentor moved to the Assembly in 2000. Atkins then won that Assembly seat when Kehoe moved to the state Senate.

Atkins is a political pioneer, serving eight years on the San Diego City Council — including serving as acting mayor — and participating in the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute Bohnett Leaders Fellowship. In March 2014, California lawmakers unanimously elected Atkins to succeed openly gay Assembly Speaker John Perez, becoming the third woman and the first out lesbian Speaker in California history. The ceremony was sealed with a kiss between Atkins and her wife, Jennifer LeSar. “It really is about trying to mentor other members of our community. I think it’s really important,” Atkins told Frontiers magazine.

In 2016, Atkins was elected to the state Senate and on March 21, 2018 made history again, becoming the first out LGBTQ+ person and first woman to serve as President Pro Tem of the California state Senate.

Robert Garcia was an active young Republican until 2007 when he changed his party affiliation to Democrat and started a local news website where he gained prominence. In 2009 at age 32, he defeated six other candidates for Long Beach City Council, making history as the youngest, first Latino man, and first LGBTQ+ council member of color in Long Beach. As a Victory Fund–endorsed candidate, Garcia made history again when elected Long Beach mayor in 2014.

“I think you run, not necessarily to be the first, I know that there are certainly historical implications of my election,” Garcia told NBC4 Los Angeles. “I’m in this to be mayor of everyone, no matter the age or the color of their skin or who they love.”

In May 2014, the United States Post Office honored Harvey Milk’s legacy with a dedicated stamp. LGBTQ+ Victory Institute President & CEO Chuck Wolfe joined other out leaders and allies at the White House to witness the dedication of the stamp. Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman said during the ceremony:

“Let this stamp remind us of the fundamental truth behind Mr. Milk’s message — that we all have a stake in equality. Let this stamp inspire a new generation to continue Harvey Milk’s legacy — to keep working toward a world where prejudice gives way to acceptance, where division gives way to unity, and where fear gives way to hope.”

Presidential appointees working in the executive branch and federal agencies can influence policymakers and steer agencies to recognize and address equality issues. Recognizing this insider power, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s Presidential Appointments Initiative presented more than 3,000 vetted resumes of LGBTQ+ leaders to the Obama transition team in late 2008. The Obama administration subsequently set a record for LGBTQ+ hires—with more than 300 out LGBTQ+ people appointed to professional full-time or advisory positions in the executive branch and federal agencies. In addition to executive branch appointments, Obama also appointed several out LGBTQ+ jurists to federal courts, including Darrin Gaynes, Judith Ellen Levy and Staci Michelle Yandle, who were all confirmed in 2014.