The Voice of All People?

 Harvey Milk became the first publicly gay official in San Francisco in 1977.  Although the town was considered to be progressive and and had a vibrant gay community, the election wasn't easily won.  How can a seemingly single issue candidate run a campaign and appeal to all members of the community? Milk was able to appeal to a broad base of voters, precisely because he didn't run as just a gay candidate. He also ran as a local businessman, and he appealed to the youth of the neighborhood as well. He campaigned for rent-control, improved parks and better services for the whole community.

It is well known that people in a community feel better served if the person in office is someone they consider "one of their own." This applies not only to those in the gay community, but also those in minority groups such as African Americans and Latinos. Donald P. Haider-Markel,Mark R. Joslyn and Chad J. Kniss published their study "Minority Group Interests and Political Representation: Gay Elected Officials in the Policy Process" in the Journal of Politics in 2000.  They note that members of a community are more likely to feel that their needs are being met if an elected official shares their background. This is true of women in politics, as well as gays and other minorities.

But does identifying yourself as a minority make you less likely to gain political support? Not according to the research submitted by Haider-Markel, et. al.  In fact, their research found that the political office holders that associated with their minority peers were more likely to be sympathetic to minority issues. Harvey Milk started out as a gay candidate, but he ended his career as a dedicated champion of rights for all of the members in his community.