Kelvin Atkinson (born April 8, 1969) is a former Democratic member of the

Nevada Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts. In the previ ...

, representing

District 4 District 4 can refer to: *District 4, Düsseldorf, in Germany *District 4, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia *District 4 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam *District 4 (New York City Council), in the United States *IV District, Turku, in Finland *Aussersi ...

. He previously served in the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...

, representing Clark County District 17 from 2002 to 2012. On April 22, 2013, during a debate on repealing Nevada's gay marriage ban, Atkinson announced on the Senate floor that: "I’m black. I'm gay." It was the first time he had publicly identified as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He became the fifth openly LGBT member of the Nevada legislature, alongside Senators David Parks and Patricia Spearman and Assemblymembers James Healey and Andrew Martin. Atkinson and his partner were the first same-sex couple to marry in Nevada, which occurred on October 9, 2014.

Resignation and Federal Charges

On March 5, 2019, Kelvin Atkinson resigned amid federal charges accusing him of misusing campaign funds for personal use. He was later convicted of fraud. On July 18, 2019, a federal judge ordered Atkinson to serve 27 months in prison and pay $249,900 in restitution for his misuse of campaign funds.

References

External links

Nevada Assembly - Kelvin D. Atkinson
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Representative Kelvin Atkinson (NV)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Kelvin Atkinson
2006200420021998
campaign contributions 1969 births 21st-century American politicians Gay politicians Howard University alumni LGBT people from Illinois LGBT state legislators in Nevada Living people Democratic Party members of the Nevada Assembly Nevada politicians convicted of crimes Democratic Party Nevada state senators People from North Las Vegas, Nevada Politicians from Chicago {{Nevada-politician-stub