First Out Black Man Elected

First openly gay black man elected in Virginia on May 6th.

The first openly gay African-American to hold public office in Virginia was elected on May 6. Voters in Falls Church, a suburb of Washington, D.C., chose Lawrence Webb for one of three available seats on the city council. He came in third place with 1,217 votes in his first bid for elected office, and will begin his four-year term on July 1.

Webb, 33, an assistant dean of admissions at the University of Mary Washington and an appointee to the board of the Department of Correctional Education, received support from the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

In a statement to the Falls Church News-Press after his victory, Webb said, “My sexuality is one aspect of my life and it has not or does not hinder me from completing my job…It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or black or both. What matters is your dedication to building a better community, and your willingness to work hard at it.”


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