The seven new out LGBTQ members of the City Council are overhauling the LGBT Caucus in historic fashion and bringing a dash of bipartisanship for the first time, but the changing of the guard also marks the end of an era that will go down in queer history.
The four departing out members of the Council paved their own paths on a number of fronts across the city — and one of them, Corey Johnson of Manhattan, climbed the ranks to become speaker. Johnson was the first individual living with HIV to lead the Council, Jimmy Van Bramer and Daniel Dromm of Queens were the first out city lawmakers in the borough, and Carlos Menchaca became the first out lawmaker in Brooklyn and the first Mexican-American lawmaker in New York City. Ritchie Torres, who ascended to Congress just months before the conclusion of his second and final term in the City Council, was the first out lawmaker in the Bronx.
