Howard J. Bayless III (born 1965) is an American healthcare professional and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. On October 9, 2007, he was elected to the Birmingham Board of Education, making him the first openly gay man elected to public office in the state of Alabama. He did not seek re-election in 2009 but ran for Birmingham City Council against incumbent councilwoman Valerie Abbott, losing by 60% to 38%. His term on the school board ended in December 2009.

Biography

Bayless was educated at Birmingham city schools, and he graduated from L. Frazier Banks High School in 1983. He went on the

University of Montevallo A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and, years later, to University of St. Francis. Since 1989, he has worked at Bradford Health Services, a healthcare organization that provides substance abuse services to patients across Alabama and the southeastern United States. A Crestwood resident since 1994, he ran in 2007 to replace Mike Higginbotham on the Birmingham School Board, representing District 3. Facing Earnest J. Lumpkin III, he won handily: gathering 4,059 votes (77.9%) to his opponent's 1,154 (22.1%). In so doing, he became the first openly gay man and only the second openly

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

person elected to public office in Alabama ( Patricia Todd had been the first, elected to the state House of Representatives in 2006). He has held leadership positions in Equality Alabama, the Equality Fund of Alabama and the Equality Federation and has volunteered with many other organizations. Both his campaigns won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. In 2018 he moved to Indio California with his husband Peter Bonventre and is now an Administrator with Telecare Corporation.

References

External links

Official campaign website
1965 births American gay politicians Living people University of Montevallo alumni University of St. Francis alumni Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama School board members in Alabama LGBTQ people from Alabama {{Alabama-politician-stub