California is getting its first openly gay governor… for around 8 hours
For about eight hours today, until Governor Jerry Brown returns from a trade mission in Mexico later tonight, California will have its first openly gay governor. State Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins will be serving as acting governor until Governor Brown returns.
Atkins will be the third official to serve as acting governor this week in California, the other two being Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who left for a Special Olympics event, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who went to Chicago this morning.
Atkins currently holds the position of Assembly speaker and was the first openly lesbian woman to do so. She also served as the first openly lesbian mayor of San Diego back in 2005.
While the United States has yet to elect someone who is openly gay as a governor, Atkins is still the second person to serve as governor after New Jersey Governor James McGreevey. McGreevey didn’t come out as gay until the end of 2004 where he tied his resignation to his decision to come out.
Read more about the story at The Huffington Post.
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