Gail R. Shibley (born c. 1958) is an American politician who was the first openly

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 ...

person to serve in the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...

. She was appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives in January 1991, to fill a vacancy caused by Phil Keislings resignation to serve as Oregon Secretary of State. She was elected to the seat in 1992 and re-elected in 1994. In 1996, she did not run for re-election, but instead ran for an open seat on the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Portland. She was narrowly defeated by

Jim Francesconi Jim Francesconi (born 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served on the Portland, Oregon City Council from 1997 until 2004. In 2004 he raised $1.3 million in his bid for mayor of Portland, more than doubling the previous fund-raising ...

. Shibley subsequently moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where she was an international liaison for the Saxony parliament, and then

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, ...

, where she worked for the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

, and was a senior advisor to the

United States Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

. She subsequently returned to Oregon, working on

Ted Kulongoski Theodore Ralph Kulongoski ( ; born November 5, 1940) is an American politician, judge, and lawyer who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative As ...

's campaign for

Governor of Oregon The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

in the 2002 gubernatorial election. She later served as the administrator of the Office of Environmental Public Health within the

Oregon Health Authority The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was established by the passage of Oregon House Bill 2009 by the 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly, and split off from Oregon Department of Human Services, O ...

. In December 2012, newly elected Portland Mayor

Charlie Hales Charles Andrew Hales (born January 22, 1956) is a former American politician who served as the 52nd mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 2013 to 2017. He previously served on the Portland City Council from 1993 to 2002. Early life and education Charl ...

announced that Shibley would serve as his chief of staff when he assumed office in January 2013. She was described as having a "peer-to-peer" relationship with Hales, coming in as experienced chief of staff in recent times.

Early life and education

Shibley was born in North Bend and raised in

Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, jus ...

. She attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

and

Lewis & Clark Law School The Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College (also known as Lewis & Clark Law School), is an American Bar Association-approved private law school in Portland, Oregon. The law school received ABA approval in 1970 and joined the As ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shibley, Gail 1958 births Lesbian politicians Lewis & Clark Law School alumni LGBT state legislators in Oregon Living people Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Women state legislators in Oregon Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Portland, Oregon University of Oregon alumni People from North Bend, Oregon 21st-century American women

Early life and education

See also

References