Darryl Moore’s first run for political office wasn’t on a whim.  The two-term, openly gay city councilman in Berkeley, Calif., says he laid the groundwork for a run by volunteering in his community, allowing local leaders and community activists to get to know him.  Moore also attended campaign training offered by the Victory Institute, which he says taught him the fundamentals of running for office.

“Technical skills are important.  I’m amazed by people who wake up one day and decide, ‘I’m gonna run for mayor,’” Moore said.  “I worked for years, serving on non-profit boards and commissions prior to running for office.  One has to learn to crawl before one can walk.”

Once in office, Moore didn’t duck taking on tough issues, even if they weren’t always popular with outsiders.  He led an effort to pass legislation covering health benefits for transgender city employees, including paying for sex reassignment surgery.

“We offer all kinds of benefits to our employees. This brings our benefits in line with what’s just and fair for the transgender community,” Moore told the San Francisco Chronicle last year ahead of a vote on the issue.

Moore had been approached by a city employee who was transgender, and who had pointed out that the city didn’t include transgender health benefits in its health plans for city workers.  “So I sponsored a piece of legislation requiring the city to make it part of its health care benefit package,” said Moore.

The fallout was national in scope, with media outlets portraying his proposal as “crazy Berkely doing more crazy things,” Moore said.  “But it’s really an issue of equality.  Transgender workers should have this benefit.”

Even gay friends told Moore his proposal wasn’t smart for him politically.  “I disagreed, and I would tell them that.  And I sat down and had some long discussions with friends and colleagues about why this was important and necessary.  It was amazing how little knowledge some of them had about transgender issues,” Moore said.

Moore first ran for office in 2000, winning a seat on the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees, and was elected to the Berkely City Council in 2004.  He was reelected in 2008 and will stand for election to a third term this year.  But he also has his eye on higher office.  “I would love to serve with the LGBT caucus in the State Assembly,” Moore said.

He may get that opportunity.  Assembly members are term limited in California, so it’s a little easier for municipal officials like Moore to eventually step up to a state legislative seat.  This year the legislature could see its caucus of openly LGBT lawmakers grow from 8 to 10, making it the largest in the U.S.

One of just a relative handful of openly LGBT African-Americans to have been elected to public office in the U.S., Moore says the journey to electoral politics can be difficult for some in his community.  “The coming out process is generally harder for African Americans.  The black church has been such a force and an institution in our lives – it has made it more difficult for us to feel safe in our coming our process,” explained Moore, who also serves as board chair of the National Black Justice Coalition, and was a David Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.

So his advice to younger black LGBT activists who hope one day to serve in public office is the same advice he followed more than a decade ago:  get involved.  “Step up and start preparing for office now.  Learn the technical skills.  Take the Victory traning.  Volunteer,” said Moore.  ”Be prepared to lead.”

Photo Credit:  The Daily Californian