Cambridge City Council Elects Nation's First Black Lesbian Mayor

@ 2026 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All rights reserved

Cambridge City

            Council Elects Nation's First Black Lesbian Mayor
       The city council
            of Cambridge, Mass., voted unanimously this week to
            elect the nation's first black openly lesbian mayor,
            according to a story       in The Cambridge       Chronicle. Denise Simmons, a member
            of the council since 2001, will       succeed Ken Reeves,
            who is also black and gay. Simmons's election marks
            "another broken glass ceiling," said Chuck
            Wolfe, president and CEO of       the Victory Fund, a group
            that supports and endorses LGBT political       candidates.     
 keleveld
          
          Jan 18, 2008
          
        
keleveld
 See Full Bio 
       The city council
            of Cambridge, Mass., voted unanimously this week to
            elect the nation's first openly lesbian black mayor,
            according to a story       in The Cambridge       Chronicle. Denise Simmons, a member
            of the council since 2001, will       succeed Ken Reeves,
            who is also black and gay.     
       Simmons's
            election marks "another broken glass ceiling,"
            said Chuck       Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory
            Fund, a group that supports and       endorses LGBT
            political candidates.     
       "We are
            enormously proud of Mayor Simmons," Wolfe said in a
            press       release. "Like Mayor Ken Reeves before
            her, she is among our community's
            trailblazers."     
       Monday's
            unanimous vote followed a week of deadlock among council
            members. Simmons, who also served as a member of the
            city's school       committee from 1992 to 2001,
            garnered support from only two of her       colleagues
            during the first vote, held the previous Monday.     
       Cambridge mayors
            are chosen by their peers on the city council. (The
            Advocate)     

        
        FROM OUR SPONSORS
        
    

        
        The Latest
        
    
National
        Former DOGE staffer says ChatGPT helped feds cancel grants mentioning ‘LGBTQ+’
    Depositions show how a Trump administration efficiency team used AI to help scan federal grant descriptions for diversity language.
Christopher Wiggins
News
        New documentary cracks 1990 gay porn star’s murder case
    The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by director Rachel Mason after 25 years.
Ariel Messman-Rucker
News
        A Martin Scorsese amour fou: The most satisfying bombshell from Liza's dishy new memoir
    In Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, the legendary performer details descending into an impassioned, drug-fueled affair with the filmmaker during the filming of the 1977 movie musical New York, New York.
Elaina Patton
News
        Don Lemon wants queer people to stand up to bullies: ‘Punch them in the nose’
    The award-winning journalist isn't backing down despite what the current administration throws at him.
Ricky Cornish

        
        More For You
        
        Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 28, 2026
The U.S. Capitol is seen on February 28, 2026, in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Israel had launched an attack on Iran on Saturday morning. 

        Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
    
        Political leaders around the country are expressing outrage over the start of armed conflict between the United States and Iran. Keep Reading →

        Retired Space Force colonel warns Trump’s Iran strikes are ‘reckless adventurism and distraction’
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 28, 2026
An NBC News live feed airs a clip from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social video announcement in the White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on February 28, 2026, in Washington, DC. 

        Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
    
        Update: Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran Keep Reading →

        Puerto Vallarta felt like ‘The Purge,' American says of unrest in Mexican tourist destination
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 23, 2026
The Malecon boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco state, Mexico.

         Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
    
        Shortly after mid-morning Sunday, black smoke began rising in staggered columns across the curve of Mexico’s Bay of Banderas, a familiar postcard vista that, by nightfall, had become a horizon of surging unrest. Keep Reading →

        Hillary Clinton and Sarah McBride expose how weaponizing ‘scarcity’ drives anti-trans political attacks
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 18, 2026
Hillary Clinton moderates the panel talk "Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights: Fighting the Global Pushback" at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2026 in Munich, Germany. 

        Johannes Simon/Getty Images
    
        The first out transgender member of the U.S. Congress took the world stage in Germany last week, warning that attacks on people like her and on LGBTQ+ rights more broadly are being weaponized in the current political climate, as she joined former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on a high-profile panel at the Munich Security Conference. Keep Reading →

        Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified
    
Ryan Adamczeski
Feb 12, 2026
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media about the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Parliament Hill February 11, 2026 in Ottawa, Canada. 

        Dave Chan / AFP via Getty Images
    
        Canadian authorities have identified the shooter who killed eight people — mostly children — at a school in British Columbia on Tuesday. Keep Reading →

        Most Popular
        
Crime
        Many alleged suicides of Black trans women are in fact modern-day lynchings, report finds
    Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder of JULIAN, explains what happens when a transgender woman’s death is ruled a suicide and a community calls it something else.
Christopher Wiggins
Politics
        Charlie Kirk DID say stoning gay people was the 'perfect law' — and these other heinous quotes
    These are some of his worst comments about LGBTQ+ people made by Charlie Kirk.
Ryan Adamczeski
Elections
        Anti-LGBTQ+ Congressman Dan Crenshaw ousted by more extreme candidate in Texas GOP primary
    The Texas Republican championed a federal ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.
Christopher Wiggins
States
        New Hampshire House advances transgender bathroom bill, breaking with New England
    The Republican-led legislation places the state increasingly out of step with the rest of New England on trans rights.
Christopher Wiggins
States
        Texas AG Ken Paxton says ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids also applies to talk therapy
    Mental health care providers in Texas risk their license if they deliver care related to transitioning to minors, the Republican attorney general who is running for U.S. Senate wrote.
Jacob Ogles
States
        Iowa House Republicans pass a bill that will make the lives of transgender residents worse
    Conservative lawmakers are attempting to take away protections that some local governments have put in place to prevent discrimination against their LGBTQ+ citizens.
Jack Walker

Site Navigation

Cambridge City
Council Elects Nation's First Black Lesbian Mayor

The Latest

Former DOGE staffer says ChatGPT helped feds cancel grants mentioning ‘LGBTQ+’

Depositions show how a Trump administration efficiency team used AI to help scan federal grant descriptions for diversity language.

New documentary cracks 1990 gay porn star’s murder case

The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by director Rachel Mason after 25 years.

A Martin Scorsese amour fou: The most satisfying bombshell from Liza's dishy new memoir

In Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, the legendary performer details descending into an impassioned, drug-fueled affair with the filmmaker during the filming of the 1977 movie musical New York, New York.

Don Lemon wants queer people to stand up to bullies: ‘Punch them in the nose’

The award-winning journalist isn't backing down despite what the current administration throws at him.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

White Supremacist Charged in Gay Man's Death

Ann Coulter Queen of Fabulous

13 LGBTQ+ British Royals in History

The Gay History of Abercrombie and Fitch Quarterly

Morocco: Mob Beats 'Trans Woman' as Bystanders Watch

More For You

Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran

Retired Space Force colonel warns Trump’s Iran strikes are ‘reckless adventurism and distraction’

Puerto Vallarta felt like ‘The Purge,' American says of unrest in Mexican tourist destination

Hillary Clinton and Sarah McBride expose how weaponizing ‘scarcity’ drives anti-trans political attacks

Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified

Most Popular

Many alleged suicides of Black trans women are in fact modern-day lynchings, report finds

Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder of JULIAN, explains what happens when a transgender woman’s death is ruled a suicide and a community calls it something else.

Anti-LGBTQ+ Congressman Dan Crenshaw ousted by more extreme candidate in Texas GOP primary

The Texas Republican championed a federal ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.

New Hampshire House advances transgender bathroom bill, breaking with New England

The Republican-led legislation places the state increasingly out of step with the rest of New England on trans rights.

Texas AG Ken Paxton says ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids also applies to talk therapy

Mental health care providers in Texas risk their license if they deliver care related to transitioning to minors, the Republican attorney general who is running for U.S. Senate wrote.

Iowa House Republicans pass a bill that will make the lives of transgender residents worse

Conservative lawmakers are attempting to take away protections that some local governments have put in place to prevent discrimination against their LGBTQ+ citizens.

Latest Stories

Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week.

Cambridge City Council Elects Nation's First Black Lesbian Mayor

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

Depositions show how a Trump administration efficiency team used AI to help scan federal grant descriptions for diversity language.

The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by director Rachel Mason after 25 years.

In Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, the legendary performer details descending into an impassioned, drug-fueled affair with the filmmaker during the filming of the 1977 movie musical New York, New York.

The award-winning journalist isn't backing down despite what the current administration throws at him.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

More For You

Most Popular

Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder of JULIAN, explains what happens when a transgender woman’s death is ruled a suicide and a community calls it something else.

These are some of his worst comments about LGBTQ+ people made by Charlie Kirk.

The Texas Republican championed a federal ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.

The Republican-led legislation places the state increasingly out of step with the rest of New England on trans rights.

Mental health care providers in Texas risk their license if they deliver care related to transitioning to minors, the Republican attorney general who is running for U.S. Senate wrote.

Conservative lawmakers are attempting to take away protections that some local governments have put in place to prevent discrimination against their LGBTQ+ citizens.

Cambridge City
Council Elects Nation's First Black Lesbian Mayor