Gerald N. "Jay" Fisette Jr. (born February 25, 1956) is an American politician in

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. He became the state's first openly gay elected official when he was elected to the five-person Arlington County

Board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

in 1997. Fisette won four reelections and served as the County Board Chair in 2001, 2005, 2010, 2014 and 2017, his last year in office. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Fisette previously worked for the federal government and at a local nonprofit health center.

Early life

Fisette received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineerin ...

in 1978. Fisette said he chose that field of study because he "learned that government was a force for good, and public service was a noble profession." Following his graduation, he spent 18 months in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, a time where he accepted his identity as a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

man. According to Fisette, "It was here, in the recent aftermath of

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

's death that I started to recognize the importance of having openly gay men and

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

s in elected office." He then attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

where he received his Master of Arts degree in Public and International Affairs in 1983.

Career

After graduating Fisette moved to Arlington where he began work as an auditor for the

General Accounting Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal gover ...

. From 1988-1989, he worked as a staff consultant for the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. During the late 1980s, he became involved with the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, a local LGBT rights organization. From 1990 to 1998, Fisette served as the director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic of Northern Virginia, a non-profit community health center that specialized in HIV/

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

care. In 1993, Fisette ran for a seat on Arlington County's Board after Democratic board member William T. Newman Jr. resigned to become a circuit court judge. In March of that year he defeated three other candidates in the Democratic primary, thanks to support from national gay rights groups, including the

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Victory F ...

, and Representative

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...

, a gay member of Congress. The following month Fisette lost to Benjamin Winslow, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidate endorsed by Republicans, in the special election by 206 votes. Four years later in 1997 Fisette decided to run again after County Board chair Ellen M. Bozman chose not run for reelection. He ran as a "social progressive and fiscal conservative" who would "hold down taxes, attract new jobs and protect the suburb's diverse neighborhoods." He downplayed the importance of his sexual orientation by saying "I am clearly a proud gay man, but that's not all I am." He ultimately won the election that November, becoming the first openly gay elected official in Virginia. His win was applauded by national LGBT activists and he became one of a dozen gay and lesbian candidates who won elections throughout the country that November. Arlington County Board 2014

In 2001, Fisette became chair of the County Board, his first of five terms in the rotating position. Under his leadership that year, the county's emergency response was praised following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

. He won reelection that November, easily defeating Republican candidate Michael W. Clancy. In August 2003, Fisette announced he would challenge Representative

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia from 1985 to 1990, and as the U.S. representative for (including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington ...

for

Virginia's 8th congressional district Virginia's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It comprises all of Arlington County, portions of Fairfax County and all of the independent cities of Alexandria and Falls Churc ...

seat, saying he had experience in education, homeland security, and housing issues. Fisette withdrew from the race less than two weeks later. He ran unopposed for the County Board in 2005, and in 2009, easily defeated

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate John G. Reeder. Four years later, he defeated another Green Party candidate, Audrey R. Clement, in the 2013 election. When Moran announced his retirement from Congress in 2014, Fisette was one of the names mentioned as a possible replacement. He declined to run though, citing "the contrast between the dysfunctional climate on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

and the can-do atmosphere in Arlington" as the main reason. Fisette declined to run for reelection in 2017 citing the desire for a career change and "embracing and advancing a set of progressive values that are so important to me, values we have championed here in Arlington that are threatened by the rumpadministration." He is the second-longest-serving board member in the county's history. During his tenure, Fisette cited environmental

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

and a balanced budget as two of his main priorities. Environmental issues which he advocated for included addressing climate change, phasing-out plastic bags, and encouraging people to no longer buy single use plastic water bottles. He also played a large role in establishing the

Capital Bikeshare Capital Bikeshare (also abbreviated CaBi) is a bicycle-sharing system which serves Washington, D.C.; Arlington County, Virginia; the cities of Alexandria, Virginia and Falls Church, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Vir ...

program. He was named 2013's "Best Elected Official" by ''Arlington Magazine''.

Electoral history

, + Arlington County Board: Results 1993–2013 ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , 1993 , , , , Jay Fisette , , Democratic , , 9.143 , , 49.4 , , , B.H. "Ben" Winslow, Jr. , ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, , 9,349 , , 50.6 , , , , , , , , , , - , 1997 , , , , Jay Fisette , , Democratic , , 29,127 , , 61.9 , , , Amy M. Jones-Baskaran , ,

, , 17,906 , , 38.0 , , , Write-in , , , , 31 , , >0.1 , - , 2001 , , , , Jay Fisette , , Democratic , , 30,214 , , 60.8 , , , Michael W. Clancy , ,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, , 19,293 , , 38.9 , , , Write-in , , , , 57 , , >0.1 , - , 2005 , , , , Jay Fisette , , Democratic , , 43,978 , , 97.4 , , , , , , , , , , , , Write-in , , , , 1,196 , , 2.6 , - , 2009 , , , , Jay Fisette , , Democratic , , 31,333 , , 66.3 , , , John G. Reeder , ,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, , 14,970 , , 31.7 , , , Write-in , , , , 975 , , 2.1 , - , 2013 , , , , Jay Fisette , , Democratic , , 38,213 , , 66.3 , , , Audrey R. Clement , ,

, , 17,916 , , 31.1 , , , Write-in , , , , 1,482 , , 2.6

Personal life

Fisette is married to Bob Rosen, author of ''The New York Times'' best seller ''Grounded'' and

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

who founded Healthy Companies International. They were married on their 30th anniversary on September 17, 2013, at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, D.C. The couple chose to marry following the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory t ...

's announcement that same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions where it was legal would be recognized for federal tax purposes, no matter where the couple lived. After the wedding, Fisette stated: "The world is changing. If you would have asked us 15 years ago if we would ever have the opportunity to get married, we would have said, 'Not in our lifetime.'" Less than one year after their wedding

same-sex marriage in Virginia Same-sex marriage in Virginia has been legal since October 6, 2014, following the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear an appeal of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in '' Bostic v. Schaefer''. Same-sex marriages subsequently ...

was legalized. The couple have lived in Arlington's Ashton Heights neighborhood since 1987. In April 2011, their front yard was featured in a three-page article, titled "Front Yard Face-lift", in ''

Southern Living ''Southern Living'' is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama–based Southern Pr ...

'' magazine. Fisette is a member of several organizations, including the Arlington Committee of 100, Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, Ashton Heights Civic Association, Equality Virginia, Leadership Greater Washington, Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

References

External links

"Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette Swearing-In Ceremony"
Arlington TV
"Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette's Jan. 1 2014 Address"
Arlington TV {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisette, Jay 1956 births American Unitarian Universalists Bucknell University alumni Gay politicians American LGBT city council members LGBT Unitarian Universalists Living people University of Pittsburgh alumni County supervisors in Virginia Virginia Democrats People from Arlington County, Virginia LGBT people from Virginia