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Gay entrepreneur and Colorado resident Jared Polis is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. (Photo by Bernard Grant photography)
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FEATURE
By: KATHERINE VOLIN COMMENTS
 
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to ever be elected to an open congressional seat.”
Other gay male members of Congress, including Barney Frank, didn’t reveal their sexual orientation until after taking office.
It’s early in the race, and, so far, Polis’ sexual orientation hasn’t emerged as a campaign issue, though it has attracted some local media attention.
“Being gay is an interesting dynamic,” he says when asked whether he’s faced challenges running as an out gay man in Colorado. “Like most gays and lesbians, there’s different degrees of being out. I’m out, there’s been articles about it in the paper, but most people haven’t read those articles. I will frequently get asked, ‘So are you married?’ There’s the continual process of coming out and deciding when to come out and how much to share really every day and that’s something straight candidates don’t face.”
Despite the full disclosure about his sexual orientation during his congressional bid, Jared Polis only came out publicly within the last two years. (Photo by Bernard Grant Photography)
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Lesbian Jennifer Veiga, who now serves in Colorado’s state Senate, was not out when she first started running for Colorado’s House of Representatives in 1996.
“It was not until the 2002 race, when I was in the House, that that became an issue, frankly because I knew someone was going to make it an issue,” Veiga says about her sexual orientation. Faced with an opponent, Karen Kataline, who threatened to out her, Veiga decided to come out on her own.
“We ran a pretty aggressive campaign because I wasn’t sure how voters would react,” Veiga says. Kataline mentioned Veiga’s sexual orientation in campaign materials, claiming that Veiga was promoting a gay agenda.
Nonetheless, Veiga won with “pretty overwhelming” numbers and her sexual orientation hasn’t been an issue since, she says.
“It’s certainly a very liberating experience not to worry about your sexual orientation,” she says. “When you represent 60,000 people and you haven’t made it an issue, it can be used against you.”
For a long time, Polis feared that his being gay would prevent him from realizing his dream of becoming a politician.
“It was always sort of lurking in the back of my mind, what if all this will end if people find out I’m gay? I might not have the opportunity to be on school board or city council or anything else, but I think it’s time to show that a gay person can be elected to the United States Congress and even<
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