Jan 26, 2007  |  By: ELIZABETH A. PERRY  | COMMENTS     

People might not always agree with Patricia Todd, Alabama’s first openly gay state legislator, but they do respect her candor and compassion. Her partner of two years, Jennifer Clarke, says even on the campaign trail, those who disagreed with her or disapproved of her sexual orientation were still won over by her charm.

“If they had an opportunity to speak with her for 30 seconds they were always taken by her genuineness, articulation of issues and how honest she was,” says Clarke. “There was something in her personality that spoke to people.”

With her background in community housing and planning, Clarke has much in common with Todd and was very involved in her campaign. Clarke moved from Massachusetts to Alabama to be with Todd in September. They met right after Todd was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

“Her being a support system while I was going through all this was critical,” says Todd.

The Alabama state legislator was just one of a bumper crop of gay and lesbian politicians who ran for election and were endorsed by the Victory Fund in 2006. Openly gay politicians Jim Roth from Oklahoma and Annise Parker from Texas also won their races, as did candidates in other areas of the country that are not considered gay friendly.

Denis Dison, vice president of communications for the Victory Fund, says his group endorsed 88 gay candidates around the country last year and 67 won, and although there was no identifiable pattern to the wins, gay candidates did come out with some surprising victories, including Kathy Webb in the Arkansas State House; Judge Virginia Linder in the Oregon State Supreme Court; Al McAffrey in Oklahoma’s State House, and Jolie Justus in the Missouri State Senate.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund provides strategic and financial support to openly gay candidates across the country. Just this week, the Victory Fund endorsed Democrat Ed Oakley in his bid to become the next mayor of Dallas. If he prevails, the three-term city councilman would become the first openly gay mayor of one of the 10 largest U.S. cities.

“Last year was a breakthrough year,” says Dison. “We have reached a tipping point in gay politics. With issues such as marriage and same-sex adoption, people are beginning to see gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as individuals, rather than activists first.”

TODD MADE HISTORY last summer when she became the first out lesbian to win a seat in the Alabama Legislature on July 18. She was only able to savor her victory for six weeks before a subcommittee voted to disqualify her, but she prevailed and was reinstated Aug. 24.

She and her primary opponent, Gaynell Hendricks, were both disqualified because they missed the deadline to file their financial statements with the Alabama Democratic Party. Todd says the rule was outdated, written before the Campaign Processes Act was passed, which requires candidates to file with the secretary of state. The party never removed that rule from the policy manual, even though candidates have been disregarding the rule for many years. Hendrick’s mother-in-law filed the complaint.

“They just found something they could hang me up on,” says Todd. “What was stupid was that [Hendricks] did not file hers with the party either, and they knew that going into the complaint.”

Todd won the primary for the District 54 seat in the House June 7, 2006 with 33.28 percent of the vote. She also gained the endorsement of the Equality Fund, Alabama’s gay political action committee, as well as the support of two of her primary opponents. Another big first for Todd was being the first white person elected to represent the district since Reconstruction.

“[The district] also has the richest and the poorest communities in Birmingham,” she says. “It is a challenge to represent all of those equally, but my primary focus is to address the real issues of poverty in Alabama.” 

Todd says she was aware that as the first openly gay Alabama legislator she would be scrutinized, and that “I probably can’t afford to screw up,” but she vows to focus on her agenda. Among her priorities are working with both parties to rewrite the state constitution (which she says contains 748 amendments and is four inches thick), raise the minimum wage and provide more funds for schools in urban areas of her district where families live below the poverty level.

“I can handle the pressure,” says Todd.

TODD HAS ADVOCATED for gay issues and causes for years. She was director of ...