- Elaine Noble
Infobox State Representative
honorific-prefix =
name =Elaine Noble
honorific-suffix =
height =150px
state_house =Massachusetts
district =6th Suffolk
term_start =1975
term_end =1979
preceded =
succeeded =
birth_date =birth date and age|1944|01|22
birth_place =New Kensington, Pennsylvania
residence =Florida
party =Democrat
spouse =Elaine Noble is an American former
politician . She served in theMassachusetts House of Representatives for two terms starting in January 1975. She was the first openlylesbian orgay candidate elected to a state legislature.cite web
last =Gianoulis
first =Tina
title = Noble, Elaine
publisher =glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,Transgender, and Queer Culture
date =2005-10-13
url =http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/noble_e.html
accessdate =2007-09-24 ] She served two terms as representative for theFenway-Kenmore /Back Bay neighborhoods ofBoston .cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =30 Years after the White House Meeting: Participants then and now
publisher =National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
date =2007
url =http://www.thetaskforce.org/about_us/history/historic_whitehouse_meeting/then_and_now
accessdate = 2007-09-24 ]Education and career
Noble gained her degree from Massachusetts and went on to study at
Boston University ,Emerson College andHarvard University . Before entering politics she worked as a speech instructor and an advertising manager. She was involved inLGBT rights activism in Boston. In 1974 she was elected to the state House of Representatives with 59% of the vote. She was sworn into office onNew Year's Day 1975 by governorMichael Dukakis .cite web
last =Neff
first =Lisa
title =Elaine Noble November 1974: a progressive Massachusetts candidate becomes the first openly gay person elected to a state-level office
work =The Advocate
date =2002-11-12
url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2002_Nov_12/ai_94598267
accessdate =2007-09-24 ] Her election made her the first openly LGBT candidate elected to a state-level office in the United States; the second, afterKathy Kozachenko , to be elected to office; and the third openly LGBT elected official overall (Kozachenko's predecessor,Nancy Wechsler , having come out while in office but not publicly known to be lesbian at the time she was elected).In March 1977, she was part of the first delegation of gay men and lesbians invited to the
White House under PresidentJimmy Carter to discuss issues important to theLGBT community . [cite web
last =Sklar
first =Roberta
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Press conference commemorates first White House meeting
work =
publisher =Qnotes
date =
url =http://www.q-notes.com/top2007/top12_040707.html
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-09-24 ] After her two terms in the House of Representatives, Noble went to work for Kevin White who was Boston mayor at the time. Whilst working for White's office, Noble became involved in anFBI investigation in which she had to testify in front of agrand jury for nineteen hours. No charges were brought against Noble. In 1980, she ran forUnited States Senate , losing toPaul Tsongas . In the 1990s she unsuccessfully ran forCambridge, Massachusetts city council.In 1986 Noble and
Ellen Ratner formed a gay and lesbian alcohol and drug treatment center inMinneapolis called thePride Institute . More recently she has worked as a healthcare administrator and arealtor .Personal life
Noble had a relationship with writer
Rita Mae Brown in the 1970s and has since retained privacy regarding her personal life. She lives inFlorida .References
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