Evelyn Mantilla

Evelyn Mantilla (born February 16, 1963) is an American politician from Connecticut who served from 1997 to 2007 as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. Mantilla was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1978. She has a A.S. degree in computer science from Manchester Community College (Connecticut) and bachelor's degree in management, magna cum laude, from the University of Saint Joseph (Connecticut). She was first elected to represent the predominantly Latino 4th district in a special election held in February 1997, and she served for a time as Deputy Majority Leader. She came out as America's first openly bisexual state official in 1997.

Political career Mantilla's first run for office was in 1993, when she campaigned for the Hartford City Council. She lost this election by 16 votes. In 1996, Mantilla took the position of legislative liaison for the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. After a tumultuous campaign, Mantilla lost the 1996 election to Garcia. However, Garcia was later convicted of voter fraud, and Mantilla petitioned for a new election, which she won.

In February 1997, Mantilla was elected as a state representative for district 4 in the House of Representatives of the Connecticut General Assembly. She came out as the first bisexual U.S. state representative in June 1997 during an LGBT pride event in Hartford, Connecticut. Addressing the crowd, she declared, "I am a bisexual woman in love with a woman," and proposed to her partner, Babette. and currently works as the managing director for Grossman Solutions, a public affairs firm.