by Jennifer Christensen
Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

An Atlanta lesbian made political history on Tuesday, becoming the first publicly acknowledged lesbian city council president in a major U.S. city. With 55 percent of the vote, Cathy Woolard won in a close run-off election for the influential post.

While there are a growing number of gays and lesbians elected to office these days, Woolard's victory could be especially significant. Next to the mayor, the city council president's job is the most powerful political office in Atlanta.

Woolard will be in a pivotal position to make the city even more gay-friendly. She sponsored the city's nondiscrimination policy, which includes sexual orientation. Her legislation gave Georgians their first opportunity to sue as victims of anti-gay discrimination. She also promised to support legislation that forbids Atlanta from awarding city contracts to businesses that deny equal benefits to gay and straight employees, including domestic partner benefits.

Woolard's election may also signal a major political shift in the electorate in Atlanta. To win in this run-off, Woolard defeated Michael Julian Bond, a two-term councilman and son of the famed civil rights leader, NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond.

Pundits suggest the GLBT community made the difference in her election, perhaps turning out twice as much to vote for Woolard as the rest of the population did for Bond.

This is not the first electoral success for Woolard. She became Georgia's first openly gay elected official when she was voted in to represent City Council District 6 in 1997. On the council she served as the head of the Transportation Committee which is overseeing the expansion of the busiest airport in the country, Hartsfield International.

She worked for seven years for the Human Rights Campaign as a lobbyist and analyst in D.C. Prior to her professional life, she earned a psychology degree and served in the Peace Corps. She has been with her partner, attorney Karen Geney, for 13 years.

Woolard has said after this term she will seriously consider running for a national office.

Anne Fauver, also a lesbian, was elected to replace Woolard as the District 6 representative.

 ©2001 ONLINE PARTNERS.COM, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.