List of LGBTQ members of the United States Congress

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

As of November 2023,^[update] 32 members of the LGBTQ community are known to have held office in the United States Congress. In the House, 30 LGBTQ people held office; in the Senate, 4 held office. Two people, Tammy Baldwin, and Kyrsten Sinema, served in the House and were later elected into the Senate. The earliest known LGBTQ congressperson was Ed Koch, who began his term in the House in 1969. The earliest known LGBTQ senator is Harris Wofford, who began his term in 1991. Both men were not out during their tenure: Koch's sexuality was confirmed after his death and Wofford announced his plans to marry a man over 20 years after serving in the Senate. The only known transgender congressperson is openly transgender congressperson-elect Sarah McBride, elected in 2024.

There are^[update] 12 openly LGBTQ members of the current (118th) Congress, all of whom are Democrats or aligned with Democrats. Three are senators and the rest are House representatives. This constitutes the second highest number of LGBTQ congresspeople serving at the same time in U.S. history.^[a][1][2]

Senate

† Came out after serving

Senator		Party		State	Term			Notes
					Start	End	Length of service
	Harris Wofford†		Democratic	Pennsylvania	May 8, 1991	Jan 3, 1995	3 years, 240 days	Announced his marriage to a man in 2016.[3][4]
	Tammy Baldwin		Democratic	Wisconsin	Jan 3, 2013	Incumbent	11 years, 310 days	As an openly lesbian woman, Baldwin is the first openly LGBTQ senator.[1][5][6]
	Kyrsten Sinema		Democratic (2019–2022)	Arizona	Jan 3, 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 310 days	Sinema is the first openly bisexual senator.[1][7]
			Independent (2022–present)
	Laphonza Butler		Democratic	California	Oct 3, 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 36 days	Butler is openly lesbian and is the first openly LGBTQ African-American senator.[8][9]

House of Representatives

† Came out after serving ‡ Posthumously identified as LGBTQ

Representative		Party		State	Term			Notes
					Start	End	Length of service
	Ed Koch‡		Democratic	New York	Jan 3, 1969	Dec 31, 1977	8 years, 362 days	Koch denied he was gay throughout his life, but a 2022 article in The New York Times identified him as such.[10]
	Stewart McKinney‡		Republican	Connecticut	Jan 3, 1971	May 7, 1987	16 years, 124 days	After dying in office of AIDS, McKinney was outed as bisexual in his obituary.[4][11][12][13][14][15]
	Barbara Jordan‡		Democratic	Texas	Jan 3, 1973	Jan 3, 1979	6 years, 0 days	Jordan's domestic partnership with Nancy Earl was revealed in her obituary in 1996, making her the first LGBTQ woman in Congress (per the U.S. National Archives).[16][17]
	Gerry Studds		Democratic	Massachusetts	Jan 3, 1973	Jan 3, 1997	24 years, 0 days	Studds came out as gay as a result of his implication in the 1983 congressional page sex scandal.[18] He became the first openly LGBTQ person to win election to Congress with his reelection in 1984.[4]
	Robert Bauman		Republican	Maryland	Aug 21, 1973	Jan 3, 1981	7 years, 135 days	Bauman was outed as gay in October 1980 while in office, making him the first openly LGBTQ member of Congress.[19][20][4]
	Jon Hinson		Republican	Mississippi	Jan 3, 1979	Apr 13, 1981	2 years, 100 days	Hinson was outed as gay after being arrested on a charge of oral sodomy on February 4, 1981.[21][4]
	Barney Frank		Democratic	Massachusetts	Jan 3, 1981	Jan 3, 2013	32 years, 0 days	Frank came out as gay in 1987 and in 2012 became the first member of Congress in a same-sex marriage.[4][22][23]
	Steve Gunderson		Republican	Wisconsin	Jan 3, 1981	Jan 3, 1997	16 years, 0 days	Gunderson was outed as gay on the floor of the House in 1994, Gunderson was the first openly gay Republican to be reelected after being outed.[24][25][4]
	Jim Kolbe		Republican	Arizona	Jan 3, 1985	Jan 3, 2007	22 years, 0 days	Kolbe came out as gay while in office after voting for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. He was the first openly gay person to address the Republican National Convention.[26][27][28][4]
	Michael Huffington†		Republican	California	Jan 3, 1993	Jan 3, 1995	2 years, 0 days.	Huffington came out as bisexual in 1998[4][29]
	Mark Foley†		Republican	Florida	Jan 3, 1995	Sep 29, 2006	11 years, 269 days	Foley came out as gay after being implicated in a 2006 congressional page scandal.[30]
	Tammy Baldwin		Democratic	Wisconsin	Jan 3, 1999	Jan 3, 2013	14 years, 0 days	Baldwin is openly lesbian, and was the first openly LGBTQ non-incumbent elected to Congress.[5][4]
	Mike Michaud		Democratic	Maine	Jan 3, 2003	Jan 3, 2015	12 years, 0 days	Michaud came out as gay in 2013.[31][32][4]
	Jared Polis		Democratic	Colorado	Jan 3, 2009	Jan 3, 2019	10 years, 0 days	In 2011, Polis became the first same-sex parent in Congress.[4][33][6][34]
	Aaron Schock†		Republican	Illinois	Jan 3, 2009	Mar 31, 2015	6 years, 87 days	Schock came out as gay in 2020.[35]
	David Cicilline		Democratic	Rhode Island	Jan 3, 2011	May 31, 2023	12 years, 148 days	Cicilline is openly gay.[1][4][6]
	Sean Patrick Maloney		Democratic	New York	Jan 3, 2013	Jan 3, 2023	10 years, 0 days	Maloney is openly gay.[1][4][6] In 2014, he married his longtime partner.[36]
	Mark Pocan		Democratic	Wisconsin	Jan 3, 2013	Incumbent	11 years, 310 days	Pocan is openly gay and the first LGBTQ member of Congress to replace another LGBTQ member of Congress (Tammy Baldwin) and the first non-incumbent in a same-sex marriage elected to Congress.[1][4][6][37]
	Kyrsten Sinema		Democratic	Arizona	Jan 3, 2013	Jan 3, 2019	6 years, 0 days	Sinema was the first openly bisexual member of Congress.[4][6][38]
	Mark Takano		Democratic	California	Jan 3, 2013	Incumbent	11 years, 310 days	Takano is openly gay and the first openly LGBTQ person of color (specifically Asian American) elected to Congress.[1][6]
	Angie Craig		Democratic	Minnesota	Jan 3, 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 310 days	Craig is openly lesbian and the first non-incumbent LGBTQ parent elected to Congress.[1][39]
	Sharice Davids		Democratic	Kansas	Jan 3, 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 310 days	Davids is openly lesbian and the first openly LGBTQ woman of color (specifically Native American) elected to Congress.[1][40]
	Katie Hill		Democratic	California	Jan 3, 2019	Nov 1, 2019	302 days	Hill is openly bisexual.[41]
	Chris Pappas		Democratic	New Hampshire	Jan 3, 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 310 days	Pappas is openly gay.[1][42]
	Mondaire Jones		Democratic	New York	Jan 3, 2021	Jan 3, 2023	2 years, 0 days	Along with Ritchie Torres, Jones was the first openly gay African American elected to Congress.[1][43]
	Ritchie Torres		Democratic	New York	Jan 3, 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 310 days	Along with Mondaire Jones, Torres was the first openly gay African American elected to Congress,[43] and the first openly gay Hispanic member of Congress.[1]
	Becca Balint		Democratic	Vermont	Jan 3, 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 310 days	Balint is openly lesbian.[44]
	Robert Garcia		Democratic	California	Jan 3, 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 310 days	Garcia is openly gay.[45]
	George Santos		Republican	New York	Jan 3, 2023	Dec 1, 2023	332 days	Santos is openly gay[46] and the first openly LGBTQ non-incumbent Republican elected to Congress[b]
	Eric Sorensen		Democratic	Illinois	Jan 3, 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 310 days	Sorensen is openly gay.[48]
	Julie Johnson		Democratic	Texas	Jan 3, 2025	Member-Elect	−56 days	Johnson is openly lesbian and the first openly LGBTQ individual to represent a southern state in Congress.[49]
	Sarah McBride		Democratic	Delaware	Jan 3, 2025	Member-Elect	−56 days	McBride is the first openly transgender individual elected to Congress. McBride will be the highest-ranking transgender official in the United States.[50]
	Emily Randall		Democratic	Washington	Jan 3, 2025	Member-Elect	−56 days	Randall is the first openly LGBTQ Hispanic woman elected to Congress. [51]

Shadow representatives

Further information: Shadow congressperson

Representative		Party		Jurisdiction	Term			Notes
					Start	End	Length of service
	Sabrina Sojourner		Democratic	District of Columbia	Jan 3, 1997	Jan 3, 1999	2 years, 0 days	Sojourner came out as lesbian in 1976.[52][53]

Histograph of openly-serving LGBTQ members of Congress

Starting	Total	Graph	Event
March 4, 1789	0		United States Congress established
October 3, 1980	1		Robert Bauman outed
January 3, 1981	0		Robert Bauman lost reelection
February 4, 1981	1		Jon Hinson outed
April 13, 1981	0		Jon Hinson resigned
July 14, 1983	1		Gerry Studds comes out
May 29, 1987	2		Barney Frank comes out
March 24, 1994	3		Steve Gunderson outed
August 1, 1996	4		Jim Kolbe comes out
January 3, 1997	2		Gerry Studds and Steve Gunderson retired
January 3, 1999	3		Tammy Baldwin elected to the House
January 3, 2007	2		Jim Kolbe retired
January 3, 2009	3		Jared Polis elected
January 3, 2011	4		David Cicilline elected
January 3, 2011	7		Tammy Baldwin moved from House to Senate; Sean Patrick Maloney, Mark Pocan, Kyrsten Sinema, and Mark Takano elected; Barney Frank retired
November 4, 2013	8		Mike Michaud comes out
January 3, 2015	7		Mike Michaud retired
January 3, 2019	10		Kyrsten Sinema moved from House to Senate; Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Katie Hill, and Chris Pappas elected; Jared Polis retired
November 1, 2019	9		Katie Hill resigned
January 3, 2021	11		Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres elected
December 9, 2022	11		Kyrsten Sinema registered as an independent
January 3, 2023	13		Becca Balint, Robert Garcia, George Santos, and Eric Sorensen elected; Mondaire Jones lost renomination; Sean Patrick Maloney lost reelection
June 1, 2023	12		David Cicilline resigned
October 4, 2023	13		Laphonza Butler appointed
December 1, 2023	12		George Santos expelled
November 5, 2024	12		Sarah McBride elected

  Democratic Party

  Republican Party

  Independent

See also

• Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus
• List of LGBTQ politicians in the United States
• List of first openly LGBTQ politicians in the United States

Notes

1. From the start of the 118th Congress until the resignation of Rep. David Cicilline (D–CT) on Jun. 1, 2023, and again from the appointment of Sen. Laphonza Butler (D–CA) on Oct. 4, 2023, until the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R–NY) on Dec. 1, 2023, there were 13 total LGBTQ members of Congress.
2. Incidentally, this also marked the first election in which both major party candidates (Santos and Democrat Rob Zimmerman) were openly LGBTQ^[47]

References

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