The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today announced its endorsement of openly gay Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino in a likely special election to replace Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.).  Markey has said he plans to resign his House seat if he becomes the Democratic nominee to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

“I’m truly grateful for the support of the Victory Fund, which has been so effective in making sure all Americans have a voice in our  government.  They share my commitment to an honest, inclusive dialog about the issues that really matter to us all,” Sciortino said.

If elected, Sciortino would become the eighth openly LGBT member of the 213th Congress, setting a new record for the most out members ever to serve on Capitol Hill at one time.

“Carl is a proven leader and a tireless champion for LGBT equality,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.  ”He’s shown an uncommon commitment to justice and fairness for the people of Massachusetts. When he brings that tenacity to Washington he’ll be a standout voice for not only for his district, but for LGBT Americans everywhere.”

Sciortino has served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2005, representing neighborhoods in Somerville and Medford.

His endorsement was one of ten made by the Victory Fund this week, bringing to 48 the total number of endorsed candidates so far this year.

March 2013 Victory Fund endorsees

Barbara Baier–Board of Education, Lincoln, NE

Dori Dean–City Clerk, Holyoke, MA

Abbe Fletman–Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia

Nick Kachiroubas–City Clerk, Crystal Lake, IL

Rhonda Lanford–Circuit Court, Dane County, WI

Chris Mallios–Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia

Mitch O’Farrell–City Council, Los Angeles

Larry Palm–Common Council, Madison, WI

Carl Sciortino–U.S. House of Representatives, MA-5

Mark Tendam–City Council, Evanston, IL

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Gay Politics honors Elaine Noble, the first openly LGBT candidate elected to a state legislature in the U.S.  Noble won a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1974, where she served two terms.  Harvey Milk would not win local office in San Francisco for another three years.

Noble described her 1974 campaign as “very ugly.” She faced constant anti-LGBT hostility, including death threats.  During the campaign her car was vandalized, her campaign office windows shattered and her supporters were often victims of serious harassment and intimidation.  At one point, Noble campaigned under the protection of state troopers.  Despite all of this, Noble did not back down and won the election with 59% of the vote.

Prior to the campaign, when Noble and Ann Lewis (Barney Frank’s sister) were forming the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, it was Lewis who first encouraged Noble to run for office.  At the time Noble did not believe, as an out lesbian, that she could win.  Lewis disagreed and helped her kick-start what would become a historic campaign.

Once in office, the harassment did not stop.  Noble had to deal with human feces left on her desk and obscene profanity from her elected colleagues.  An elderly man once approached her outside the state Capitol and spit on her.  “I walked all the way home, showered and changed my clothes,” Noble told Metro Weekly.

Noble earned the ire not just of anti-gay activists, but also those opposed to desegregating the public schools.  At the height of the controversy in the Boston public school system, Noble pushed for desegregation legislation.  As an educator herself, Noble and her campaign staff stood at the school pick-up and drop-off locations in her district to make sure the law was being enforced.

Noble was the only white Boston-area Delegate that would ride the bus with the school children.  This landed her in hot water not only with conservative Democrats, but also with some in the LGBT community.  A reporter from the only LGBT newspaper in town told her that “you should stick to your own kind or we’re going to get someone else to represent us,” to which she responded, “Well, I believe, [David], I am sticking with my own kind.”

After her second term, Noble was part of the first delegation of LGBT Americans invited to the White House to discuss issues important to the community.   Moving away from politics in 1986, Noble helped to create an LGBT alcohol and drug treatment center in Minneapolis.   More recently, she has become a successful Realtor and health care administrator.

Blake Jelley is an intern at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute.

Last week the major dailies in Boston–the Globe and the Herald–endorsed Richard Tisei, an openly gay Republican running to represent Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House.  Today brings news that four more local papers have given Tisei their backing, saying he’ll bring an independence sorely needed in Washington.

“The time has come for voters to back candidates who have the desire to put people before party, the talent to bring a fresh approach to seemingly intractable problems and a willingness to work in concert to move the country forward,” said the editorial board of The Salem News.

“Tisei is a member in good standing of the Bill Weld wing of the Republican Party who believes, as he put it, ‘that government should be off your back, out of your wallet and away from the bedroom.’ That works for us,” the Boston Herald editorial said.

Tisei is one of 8 openly gay, lesbian and bisexual federal candidates endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund this year.  He would be the only out Republican in Congress, and the first out GOP candidate to win a seat in the House as a non-incumbent.

Richard Tisei, an openly gay, pro-choice Republican running for Congress in Massachusetts, has written to state party officials to ask them not to adopt the national party’s platform, particularly as it pertains to social issues, according to a report in the Boston Globe:

Tisei, a moderate who is openly gay, said the national platform “espouses beliefs that exclude many in our party, includ­ing myself.”

“As a ‘live-and-let-live’ ­Republican, my philosophy is that the government should get off our backs, out of our wallets, and away from the bedroom,” he wrote in a letter to state GOP chairman Robert A. Maginn Jr.

Tisei would be the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress as a freshman.  Other openly gay Republicans who have served on Capitol Hill came out after being elected, and none have served in Congress since 2006.

The former state senator and GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010 is endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

UPDATE–10:32 pm:  The Massachusetts Republican Party tonight voted not to adopt the national GOP platform after objections from moderates and input from federal candidates Sen. Scott Brown and Richard Tisei, who is seeking a House seat.  The party could revisit the issue after the elections this November.

Richard Tisei, an openly gay Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts, now has an even shot at beating his opponent,  incumbent Democratic Rep. John Tierney, according to a new rating of the race by the paper Roll Call.  The paper recently reclassified the race from “Likely Democratic” to “Toss-up” in its ratings of House races around the country.

“Richard is well-known and liked throughout the district.  [He's] spent years defying the odds by being elected by Independents, Republicans, and Democrats. He’s honest and a known problem-solver who cares about people and the future of the country,”  said Tisei Campaign Manager Paul Moore.

Tisei has also consistently beaten Tierney in fundraising over the past few quarters, a sign that the GOP thinks the seat could flip.  ”In my wildest dreams, I wouldn’t have imagined that so many people would be supporting our message of change with their pocketbooks — particularly in these very tough economic times,” Tisei told the Washington Blade.

Tisei is one of 8 federal candidates endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund in 2012.