Minnesota

Groundbreaking Congresswoman

b. February 14, 1972

“We need elected officials who are honest and work for the people.”

Angie Craig is the first openly lesbian mother elected to Congress and the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Minnesota.

Born in West Helena, Arkansas, Craig was raised in a mobile home park by a single mother. Her family struggled to pay bills and lacked health insurance. Craig worked two jobs to get through college. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Memphis and took a job as a local news reporter.

Beginning in 1997, Craig and her partner, Debra Langston, faced a heartbreaking struggle to adopt a child, whom they named Joshua. The couple lived in Tennessee, a state generally hostile to homosexuality with no provision for gays and lesbians to adopt jointly. The couple’s ensuing three-year legal battle led to an unprecedented ruling, allowing them to adopt Joshua and making it easier for other same-sex couples to adopt in the state. Although Craig and Langston separated in 2006, they continued to share custody of their son.

Craig moved to Minnesota looking for a “more open and accepting” community. Professionally, she advanced through the ranks to lead a workforce of 16,000 for a major Minnesota manufacturer. As a business leader, she used her position to advocate for marriage equality in the state.

Life experiences inspired Craig to fight injustice through politics. In 2016 she ran as a Democrat for Congress against a conservative anti-LGBT talk show host. She lost by fewer than 7,000 votes. In 2018 Craig defeated her former opponent in a rematch, becoming the first openly gay Minnesota Congressperson.

Craig has worked on initiatives around health care affordability, educational access and support for rural communities. She authored the State Health Care Premium Reduction Act and co-sponsored an act aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. She introduced the bipartisan Feed Emergency Enhancement During Disasters (FEEDD) Act to provide farmers with additional emergency flexibility.

Craig has denounced the Trump administration’s anti-LGBT adoption waivers. In 2019 she introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which sought to end anti-LGBT discrimination in foster care and adoption.

Craig lives in Eagan, Minnesota, with her wife, Cheryl Greene. They have four children.

Diplomat/Philanthropist

Youth Activist

b. October 14, 1975

"Kids are becoming a lot stronger, and with my case I hope they realize that they’re not alone."

Jamie Nabozny was the first student to successfully sue a school district for its failure to protect a student from anti-gay harassment. His 1995 lawsuit helped pioneer the Safe Schools Movement for GLBT students.

Nabozny was emotionally bullied and physically abused as a high school student in Ashland, Wisconsin, after he revealed his sexual orientation. Classmates urinated on him, simulated raping him and beat him to the point that he needed surgery. Although he and his parents reported the bullying repeatedly, Nabozny was told that, because he was openly gay, he should expect such behavior.

"I was numb most of the time, and I had to be numb to make it through," Nabozny said. He left the school, moved to Minnesota with his family, and passed the GED exam.

His lawsuit against the school was initially dismissed, but the Nabozny family appealed. The appellate court, basing its ruling on the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, allowed the lawsuit to go forward. A jury then found the school liable for Nabozny’s injuries; the school district eventually agreed to a nearly $1 million settlement.

Nabozny’s story is featured in a documentary film and teaching kit produced by the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case that Made History," and its accompanying materials have been distributed to schools nationwide.

Nabozny has submitted written testimony to Congress and has lobbied lawmakers about school safety for GLBT youth. He was honored for his pioneering efforts by Equality Forum, which recognized him with its 1997 National Role Model Award.

Nabozny lives in Minneapolis. He travels the country speaking to diverse audiences about his experience and the importance of safe schools.

U.S. Marshal

b. July 11, 1952

"Hopefully my coming out will dispel any myths that you can’t be gay and in uniform."

In 2010, Sharon J. Lubinski became the nation’s first openly gay United States Marshal. She is the first female to hold this post in Minnesota.

A native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Lubinski received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1974 and a master’s degree from Hamline University in 1992.  She has served 32 years in law enforcement, including 12 years of command experience as precinct commander of downtown Minneapolis and deputy chief of patrol. From 2006 to 2010, Lubinski managed the Minneapolis Police Department’s daily operations as assistant chief of police. 

In 2009, Senator Amy Klobuchar recommended Lubinski to the post of United States Marshal for the District of Minnesota stating, “Her mix of experience managing a large, urban police department and working in a rural sheriff’s office makes her uniquely qualified to serve in this role.” United States Marshals are responsible for running the enforcement arm of the federal courts. They protect court officers, apprehend fugitives, transport federal prisoners and protect federal witnesses.   

After nominating Lubinski, President Obama stated, “She has dedicated her career to the noble cause of protecting her fellow Americans. She has displayed exceptional courage in the pursuit of justice, and I am honored to nominate her today to continue her selfless work as a U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota."

Lubinski is a member of the community faculty at the Metropolitan State University School of Criminal Justice and is a doctoral candidate in Public Administration at Hamline University.

Pro Football Player

Professional football player Esera Tuaolo became the third NFL player to come out.

Tuaolo was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a banana-farming Samoan family. He attended Oregon State University where he played football.

The Green Bay Packers drafted him in 1991. A defensive lineman, Tuaolo was the first rookie in NFL history to start in all 16 games. His record earned him a spot on the 1991 All-Rookie team.  

While he was with the Packers, Tuaolo was asked to sing the National Anthem for a Thursday night televised game. He refers to this as one of his most memorable moments in professional football.

In 1992, the Packers traded Tuaolo to the Minnesota Vikings. From there, he went on to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons. He played in Super Bowl XXXIII with the Falcons. After a season with the Carolina Panthers, he retired.  

In 2002, Tuaolo came out on the HBO series “Real Sports.” The emotional interview dealt with Tuaolo’s constant fear of being outed, the homophobic culture of professional sports and the responses of former teammates and friends.

In 2006, Tuaolo performed the National Anthem at the opening ceremony of Gay Games VII. The same year, his autobiography “Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL” was released.  The book made Tuaolo a spokesperson against homophobia, particularly the unofficial policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in professional sports. He served as a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.

Tuaolo is also an HIV/AIDS activist—his brother died from complications of the disease. He has appeared in public service announcements and is a major fundraiser for Camp Heartland for children and youth with HIV/AIDS. 

Tuaolo shares custody of his adopted twin children with his former partner Mitchell Wherley. 

Marriage Equality Pioneers

b. Both 1942

“I am convinced that same-sex marriage will be legalized in the United States.” - Jack Baker

Jack Baker and Michael McConnell are pioneering marriage equality advocates. In 1970 they became the first same-sex couple in the United States to apply for a marriage license. Later, in Baker v. Nelson, they became the first to file a state lawsuit for marriage equality.

Baker and McConnell attended the University of Minnesota. In 1969 Baker and other campus activists founded Fight Repression of Erotic Expression (FREE). FREE was the second gay-student-run organization in the United States. It is credited with creating what would become Gay Pride.

FREE’s initiatives included reporting on gay rights in Minneapolis and surveying major Twin Cities companies in an effort to expose discrimination against homosexuals. They discovered that Honeywell “would not employ a known homosexual.” FREE pushed the university to adopt gay-friendly initiatives, which included banning campus recruitment by employers that discriminate. The prohibition motivated Honeywell to end discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In 1971, campaigning on a pro-gay platform, Baker became the first openly gay president of the Minnesota Students Association. He was also the first to be reelected president in the school’s then 121-year history.

Baker and McConnell became a couple. They believed Minnesota law did not specifically ban marriage between same-sex adults. They applied for a marriage license, and Baker, a law student, insisted that under the rule of law, “what’s not forbidden is permitted.” Their application was denied. After losing a district court battle, the couple took the suit to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The high court also ruled against them. With marriage disallowed, McConnell legally  unsuccessful, laid the foundation for future marriage equality challenges. 

In 1972 Baker led the Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL) Gay Rights Caucus at the party’s Minnesota State Convention. The DFL was the first significant U.S. political party to support marriage equality. In 2015 when Obergefell v. Hodges made same-sex marriage legal nationwide, McConnell told Minnesota Public Radio, “We were right. We had been right.”

In 2016 Baker and McConnell published a memoir, “The Wedding Heard ‘Round the World: America’s First Gay Marriage.” They donated their legal documents to the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota.