Kathy Kozachenko

Kathy Kozachenko (born 1953) is an American lesbian politician who was the first openly LGBT candidate to successfully run for political office in the United States. Kozachenko ran on the ticket of the Human Rights Party (HRP), the local, left-wing third party, which had already succeeded in winning two Ann Arbor, Michigan, council seats in 1972.

Biography Born in Alexandria, Virginia, 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".

Kozachenko's HRP predecessors on the city council, Nancy Wechsler and Jerry DeGrieck, had both come out during their first and only terms on the city council, thus becoming the first openly LGBT public-office holders in the United States; however, neither Wechsler nor DeGrieck ran for office as an openly lesbian/gay individual. Her win was important because she became the first openly lesbian/gay candidate to successfully run for and win public office in the United States.

During her two-year term (1974–1976), Kozachenko focused on progressive issues central to the HRP platform. Her campaign focused on enforcement of Ann Arbor’s Human Rights Ordinance, which protected gay and lesbian residents from discrimination in housing and employment. She also supported workers rights, the United Farm Workers boycott, and the increasing of funding for social service programs. She continued to be a vocal promoter of economic justice even though her campaign for rent control eventually failed at the elections.

In her second year on the council, Kozachenko had the swing vote. She utilized this position to negotiate increased funding for social services. She also attempted to introduce legislation to overturn a law she believed was used to unfairly arrest student protesters, but the bill did not pass.