Jennifer L. Veiga (born October 10, 1962http://www.jenveiga.com/test/?page_id=9) is a former American attorney and politician from Colorado. Veiga is a former

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

and member of Colorado's 31st Senate district, covering

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

and north-central

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She announced on April 7, 2009 that she would be resigning her seat to move to Australia where her partner's mother was ill. Her resignation became effective on May 15 and, on May 29, Pat Steadman was sworn-in as her successor.

Biography

Graduating from

Irvine High School Irvine High School is a public high school, located in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California, United States. It is part of the Irvine Unified School District. The school is located in the El Camino Real neighborhood in the north-central ...

in 1980, she went on to the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

where she earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in 1983. She then received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1987. A practicing lawyer with the Denver law firm Hall & Evans, LLC specializing in civil ligitagation, Veiga was elected to the

in 1996 and re-elected three times, in 1998, 2000, and 2002. In 2003, she served as House Minority Leader, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and the Legislative Council. In July 2003, she was named by a Vacancy Committee to the 31st District seat in the Colorado Senate following the resignation of Doug Linkhart. She ran unopposed for election to the Senate seat in November 2004 and won re-election in 2008. She served as Chairman of the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. A

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, she came out publicly in August 2002 and is the first ever openly gay person to serve in the Colorado legislature. As a representative and then as a senator, Veiga introduced legislation every year to ban employment discrimination based on

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

, at first with little success. In 2005 and then in 2006, Veiga's non-discrimination bill was passed by the legislature, but vetoed by Gov. Bill Owens;Western Equality , OutWest Newsletter May/June 2006
in 2007, however, the bill was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter. At the time of her retirement, she was one of three openly gay members of the legislature, serving alongside representatives

Mark Ferrandino Mark Steven Ferrandino (born August 9, 1977) is a former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado and former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. Appointed to the legislature in 2007, Ferrandino represented House District 2, encompas ...

(D-Denver) and Sue Schafer (D-

Wheat Ridge The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

References

External links

Jennifer Veiga's profile at Minter Ellison, a law practice in Australia
Retrieved January 8, 2015.
Project Vote Smart - Senator Jennifer L. 'Jen' Veiga (CO)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Jennifer L Veiga
200620042002200019981996
campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Veiga, Jennifer Democratic Party Colorado state senators Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives 1962 births Living people George Washington University Law School alumni University of Colorado alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni Lesbian politicians LGBT state legislators in Colorado Women state legislators in Colorado LGBT people from California