Harvey Milk helped open the door for LGBTQ+ people to become elected leaders, being the first openly gay person elected into public office in California and a LGBTQ+ political icon of the Gay Rights Movement in the late ’70s. After winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, he began his short but impactful run on Jan. 8, 1978 until his tragic assassination later that year. Though his time in elected office was cut short, his impact on the LGBTQ+ political movement lives on today.
READ MORE: Honoring Harvey Milk’s legacy: Follow His Example and Run
Five decades after Milk held public office, many LGBTQ+ elected officials have followed in Milk’s footsteps in service, including California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. Lara became the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to statewide office in the state. By trailblazing and championing LGBTQ+ rights, Lara earned his induction into the LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame on the final day of the 41st annual International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference on Saturday, Dec. 6.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is the first out LGBTQ+ statewide elected official in California. Photo taken at the 2025 International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference on Dec. 6 by United Photography.
“Who would have thought that a kid from East Los Angeles and somebody as great as Harvey Milk [was] going to be connected in the beautiful state of California, like we are?” Lara said in his acceptance remarks.
LGBTQ+ Victory Institute President & CEO Evan Low introduced the inductee, pointing out that when Lara was chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he was the most powerful leadership position in California’s state legislature from 2014 to 2019. Low highlighted Lara while in the position, he centered LGBTQ+ equality, urging why representation matters in elected leadership. The two also served as chair and vice chair of the state’s LGBTQ+ Legislative Caucus.
“He is the embodiment of helping to ensure that it is intrinsic,” said Low on Lara’s leadership. “It is always part of him.”
Low and Lara served as California legislatures in different houses at the same time, and led the state’s LGBTQ+ Legislative Equality Caucus as chair and vice chair. Photo by United Photography
In his acceptance speech, Lara highlighted his policy initiatives centering on immigration rights, access to healthcare and climate-related insurance reform.
“Standing here today, I’m truly humbled being inducted into the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute Political Hall of Fame,” said Lara. “It’s not really just a personal honor. It really recognizes the communities that raised me, the movements that helped shape me, and the people who believed in me when the odds seemed really insurmountable.”
Lara is the son of Mexican immigrants who grew up in East Los Angeles. His parents’ lessons and values guided him to become the first openly gay person of color in the California State Senate and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in a statewide public office as a commissioner.
“Parents who really instilled in me the values of hard work, dignity, and service—they reminded me daily that our voices matter even when the world and now our own government tells us otherwise,” said Lara.
He views his political achievements as breakthroughs for marginalized communities. Not just being the first, but being the champion of action. As a legislator, Lara didn’t accept no for an answer.
“When others hit a wall, we found ways around it,” said Lara. “I was proud to create the first-ever health for all kids, giving undocumented children access to free healthcare.” Lara introduced the Health 4 All Kids legislation, which passed in 2015.
“We ended incarceration for our youngest children in California and secured a path for driver’s licenses for undocumented Californians,” continued Lara, calling these policies ones that positioned California as the model for equity and inclusion.
Lara developed a strategy to frame climate change as a consumer-protection and stability crisis, protecting homeowners and wildfire survivors and holding insurance companies accountable.
Though he’s made a lot of progress in California, Lara called out the Trump administration for attempting to strip protections for undocumented students. Also, he highlighted the lack of access to health care for many immigrant communities, despite his legislation to expand access to the Affordable Care Act in California.
Lara was the third 2025 inductee into the LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame, along with West Hollywood Vice Mayor John Heilman and Spanish Senator Carla Antonelli. Photo taken at the 2025 International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference by United Photography.
“But is that going to stop us? Hell no. We’re going to keep at it,” proclaimed Lara. “These milestones were not just personal achievements. They represent our collective breakthroughs for the communities that have long been excluded from power.”
According to the commissioner, leadership isn’t a popularity contest; “it’s a daily test of courage, compassion, and commitment.”
“One that I proudly embrace and that we all proudly embrace by affirming ‘sign me the hell up,’” said Lara in his rally cry for more LGBTQ+ representation. “Let’s get ready to fight.”
Lara said that’s why the people—elected leaders, advocates and allies—were in the room that day.
“Being the first often means bearing the weight of skepticism, criticism [and] resistance,” said Lara. “Yet, it also means opening the doors for others to walk through more freely.”
Lara’s second term as commissioner is coming to a close at the beginning of 2027, meaning there will be no openly LGBTQ+ statewide constitutional officer unless someone carries the torch. But like Milk, his trailblazing legacy is cemented in history.
Watch the full LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame induction for California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara below:
