Kathy Kozachenko (born 1953) is an American politician who was the first openly LGBT candidate to successfully run for political office in the United States.{{cite news, last1=Friess, first1=Steve, title=The First Openly Gay Person to Win an Election in America Was Not Harvey Milk, url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-12-11/the-first-openly-gay-person-to-win-an-election-in-america-was-not-harvey-milk, work=

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

, date=December 11, 2015, accessdate=3 April 2020 Kozachenko ran on the ticket of the Human Rights Party (HRP), the local, left-wing

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

, which had already succeeded in winning two

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, council seats in 1972.{{cite news, last1=Compton, first1=Julie, title=Meet the lesbian who made political history years before Harvey Milk, url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/meet-lesbian-who-made-political-history-years-harvey-milk-n1174941, work=

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

, date=April 2, 2020, accessdate=3 April 2020

Biography

Born in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, Kozachenko moved around during her youth. From Toledo, Ohio, she would eventually make it to Plymouth, Michigan. She joined the Human Rights Party (HRP) in the early 1970s. Kozachenko is of Ukrainian descent. Kozachenko was an out student at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

,{{Cite book, last1=Faderman, first1=Lillian, title=The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, year=2015, edition=1st, pages=393–394, publisher=

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, location=New York, isbn=978-1451694116 where she received support for her progressive agenda, which included a fine of no more than five dollars for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Another part of her platform included "a ceiling on the amount of profit a landlord could make from rents on a building". Running solely against a liberal Democrat, the 21-year-old Kozachenko was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council on April 2, 1974. She won the seat "representing the city's second ward by fifty-two votes".{{cite book, editor1-last=Campbell, editor1-first=Jane, editor2-last=Carilli, editor2-first=Theresa, title=Queer Media Images: LGBT Perspectives, date=2013, page=123, chapter=11. First But (Nearly) Forgotten: Why You Know Milk But Not Kozachenko, by Bruce E. Drushel, publisher=

Lexington Books Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

, location=Plymouth, United Kingdom, isbn=978-0739180280 Kozachenko's HRP predecessors on the city council, Nancy Wechsler and

Jerry DeGrieck Gerald (Jerry) C. DeGrieck is a public health manager and policy advisor in Seattle, Washington. He and Nancy Wechsler served together on the Ann Arbor City Council, 1972–1974, while they were graduate students at the University of Michigan. ...

, had both

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

during their first and only terms on the city council, thus becoming the first 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 ...

public-office holders in the United States; however, neither Wechsler nor DeGrieck ran for office as an openly lesbian/gay individual. The city of Ann Arbor is planning to erect a statue in front of city hall to honor the former city council member. It is estimated to be dedicated in 2024, on the 50th anniversary of her election.{{Cite web , title=Kathy Kozachenko, First Out Elected Official in U.S., to be Honored in Michigan , url=https://www.advocate.com/politics/kathy-kozachenko-michigan-honored , access-date=2024-01-21 , website=www.advocate.com , language=en

References

{{Reflist {{DEFAULTSORT:Kozachenko, Kathy Living people 20th-century American women politicians American lesbian politicians American LGBTQ city council members American LGBTQ rights activists Women city councillors in Michigan LGBTQ people from Michigan LGBTQ people from Virginia Politicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan Michigan city council members Human Rights Party (United States) politicians American people of Ukrainian descent University of Michigan alumni 21st-century American women 1953 births 20th-century Michigan politicians