Many Americans herald Harvey Milk as one of the first public advocates of LGBTQ+
equality and is widely regarded as the country’s pioneer openly queer person to be elected to
public office in 1977 (“Harvey Milk”). However, what most Americans do not know is that Milk
was not the first LGBTQ+ public official; three years prior to Milk’s election, a 21-year-old
lesbian student at the University of Michigan, Kathy Kozachenko, was elected to the Ann Arbor
City Council. A member of the now-nonexistent Human Rights Party, Kozachenko fought for
not only LGBTQ+ rights but also affordable housing, racial equity, workers’ rights, and various
socialist issues (Compton). Though her achievements widely go unrecognized, Kozachenko’s
courage to affect change at the local level as a queer socialist woman is undeniable.
Originally born in Alexandria, Virginia, Kozachenko grew up in a very nonpolitical
household. Despite Kozachenko’s profound concerns for others and their lives, current events
were not discussed in her family, and her political interests were not shared by her peers.
However, when Kozachenko moved to Plymouth, Michigan to attend high school, her passion
for political activism blossomed; at one point, Kozachenko–with the help of a few of her
teachers–organized an informational meeting about the United Farm Workers’ pay, working
conditions, and boycott of non-union grapes (Kozachenko).
After she moved to Ann Arbor to pursue English and creative writing at the University of Michigan, or U of M, Kozachenko almost immediately joined the civil rights movement and was quickly recruited by a student group called the Human Rights Party, or the HRP. The HRP asked Kozachenko to run for city council, and, believing in the HRP’s social justice goals, she agreed (Compton). But, unbeknownst to her HRP campaign runners, Kozachenko was already in a battle–one with her identity.
Even though Kozachenko entered college with an openness to exploring relationships
with women, she remained confused about her sexuality as many other “lesbians” at U of M
were actually straight women trying to prove a point about the importance of decentering men.
But, after the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn and patrons
fought back (Blakemore), Kozachenko gained confidence in her identity and knew it was time to
come out. Unfortunately, like many American teens today, Kozachenko’s coming out experience
was less than positive; when she told her parents she was a lesbian at age 20, “they shrugged it
off as the declaration of a hyper-political kid caught up in the drama of the times” (Friess). But,
in a demonstration of her resilience and tenacity, Kozachenko did not let this disappointment
from her parents deter her from achieving her goals.
When Kozachenko came out to her campaign manager, Frank Shoichet, she received a
different response. Rather than pushing her identity aside, Shoichet celebrated Kozachenko’s
identity as a lesbian and suggested she run as openly lesbian for the city council (Friess). When
Kozachenko agreed, she cemented herself in the history books as the first openly queer person to run for public office.
A burgeoning socialist, Kozachenko endorsed policies such as rent control, farmworker’s
rights, racial and gender equality, and LGBTQ+ rights (“Meet The Candidate…”). Since she was still a student at U of M, Kozachenko had limited time to campaign, and while that may have stopped countless others, it only fueled Kozachenko’s persevering spirit and her determination to win. She campaigned in residence halls and student neighborhoods and ultimately won the city council position by a margin of 52 votes, making even more history by becoming the first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold public office (“It Happened at Michigan…”).
In her acceptance speech, Kozachenko stated that “10 years ago, or even three years ago, lesbianism would have meant automatic defeat…” and her campaign “forced some people to… re-examine their prejudices and stereotypes” (Compton).
Today, only 0.17% of all public officials are part of the LGBTQ+ community (Reese);
when Kozachenko won her position in 1974, that percentage was 0. Her trailblazing efforts not
only represent her incredible courage but also her commitment to improving the country and
making it more accepting of queer individuals.
Kozachenko only ended up serving one term as a city council member. Noting that she
saw the HRP as more of a vehicle for change rather than a political party with staying power,
Kozachenko decided not to run for re-election (Compton). But her career in representing those
without a voice, in fighting for queer liberation, was far from over.
After graduating, Kozachenko moved to New York where she was involved in several
socialist and LGBTQ+ organizations. Most notably, Kozachenko was an organizer for the 1979
March on Washington (Friess) in which more than 100,000 Americans marched in front of the
White House demanding LGBTQ+ rights, representation, and equality (“1979 March on
Washington…”). Then, in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan became president and he, along with
his cabinet, ignored the raging AIDS epidemic (Bennington-Castro), Kozachenko continued her
activism by volunteering with political and community groups (Friess) and remains a staunch
advocate for all kinds of queer causes to this day (Kozachenko).
When asked to join the HRP, Kathy Kozachenko could have rejected it. She could have
spent her life hiding and suppressing an identity she was afraid of facing. Instead, Kozachenko
chose to be bold. She chose to run a campaign with her queerness at the center of it in a time
when being openly queer could mean losing your job, your family, your friends, your life . She
chose to put everything on the line with the vision of a better future, deciding that–even though it would be incredibly difficult–choosing courage over fear could change our country for the
better.
She was right.
