Evelyn Mantilla
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Evelyn Mantilla (born February 16, 1963) is an
American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...
from
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
who served from 1997 to 2007 as a member of the
Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...
. Mantilla was born in
Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founde ...
,
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, and moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1978. She has a A.S. degree in computer science from
Manchester Community College (Connecticut) Manchester Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Manchester, Connecticut. Founded in 1963, it is the third-oldest of the twelve community colleges governed by the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system (CSCU) and has ...
and bachelor's degree in management, magna cum laude, from the
University of Saint Joseph (Connecticut) The University of Saint Joseph is a private Roman Catholic university in West Hartford, Connecticut. It was founded in 1932 by the Sisters of Mercy of Connecticut. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. ...
. She was first elected to represent the predominantly Latino 4th district in a special election held in February 1997, and she served for a time as Deputy Majority Leader. She came out as America's first openly bisexual state official in 1997.


Political career

Mantilla's first run for office was in 1993, when she campaigned for the Hartford City Council. She lost this election by 16 votes. In 1996, Mantilla took the position of legislation liaison for the Hartford Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. Then, in September 1996, Mantilla began her second political campaign, running against the incumbent Eddie Garcia to be a state representative for Connecticut's district 4. She and her campaign staff, composing of 100 volunteers, faced death threats, threats of physical harm, and attempted arson to their headquarters. After a tumultuous campaign, Mantilla lost the 1996 election to Garcia. However, Garcia was later convicted of voter fraud, and Mantilla petitioned for a new election, which she won. In February 1997, Mantilla was elected as a state representative for district 4 in the House of Representatives of the Connecticut General Assembly. She came out as the first bisexual U.S. state representative in June 1997 during an LGBT pride event in Hartford, Connecticut. Addressing the crowd, she declared, "I am a bisexual woman in love with a woman," and proposed to her partner, Babette. Mantilla ran for re-election successfully in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. During the election in 1998, she faced an anti-gay oppositional campaign by Pentecostal minister Gabriel Carreras. He ran as an independent candidate to challenge Mantilla, claiming that she was "promoting the homosexual lifestyle in our schools." Mantilla won re-election with 88% of the vote. During her time as a legislator, Mantilla prioritized issues pertaining to lower socioeconomic areas. She also worked to push forward election reform as well as same-sex marriage legalization. She chose not to run for re-election in 2006, and her term expired in January 2007. She was succeeded by Democrat Kelvin Roldán.


Other work

Mantilla has held leadership positions with the National Council for Community and Justice and the Hartford Sexual Assault Crisis Service. She has received awards from the Connecticut Institute for Community Development and the National Association of Social Workers, among others. She worked as the communications manager for the city of Hartford from 2008 to 2012. She also worked as the principal of Mantilla Leadership Solutions, a political campaign consulting firm, and currently works as the managing director for Grossman Solutions, a public affairs firm.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantilla, Evelyn 1963 births People from Caguas, Puerto Rico Activists from Connecticut American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Puerto Rican people in Connecticut politics Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Puerto Rican bisexual people LGBT state legislators in Connecticut Living people Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican women activists University of Saint Joseph (Connecticut) alumni Women state legislators in Connecticut Bisexual women politicians Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Connecticut