ARTICLES ABOUT PNW QUEER
HISTORY

Kendall Clawson

Identifies as lesbian. Kendall was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to be Director of Executive Appointments in January 2011. Shortly after that, Kendall was also appointed to a secondary role as the Governor’s Arts and Culture Policy Advisor. Previous to taking the state job, Kendall was Executive Director of Portland Q Center. Q Center’s library has since been named for her. (http://www.glapn.org/6029KendallClawson.html) In August of 2014, Governor Kitzhaber promoted Kendall to his Deputy Chief of Staff for Community Engagement. (http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-32068-gov_john_kitzhaber_names_kendall_clawson_deputy_chief_of_staff.html)

Given her current position, Kendall is probably one of Oregon’s most influential African American women.

Fred Neal

Identifies as a gay man. Fred has held various government positions in Oregon over a 32-year period, including Manager, Elections Division under the Oregon Secretary of State from 1995 to 2006; Deputy Legislative Counsel for the Oregon Legislature; Executive Director of the State Court Finance Action Committee; and Legal Counsel for the League of Oregon Cities. 

Christine Tanner

Identifies as lesbian.  She is currently Interim Dean for Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, Portland Campus. 

Vailey Oehlke

Identifies as lesbian.  She was appointed Director, Multnomah County Library in 2009.

Erin Janssens

Identifies as lesbian. She was hired by Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard in 2012 to be Portland Fire Chief. 

Keeston Lowery

Identified a gay man.  Keeston was a staff member to Portland City Commissioner Mike Lindberg.  Because he was openly and proudly gay, he became a role model for other gay men and women who became active in public life.  One of the people influenced by him was Sam Adams, later to be Portland’s first gay mayor.  Keeston passed away in 1993.

Peter Livingston

Identifies as a gay man.  Between 1995 and 1998, Peter was a member of the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals

Barry Pack

Identifies as a gay man.  Starting in late 2012, he is Senior Policy Advisor at State of Oregon - Office of the Chief Operating.  Barry was Oregon’s Deputy Secretary of State from 2008 to 2012.

Judge Kemp

Identifies as a gay man.  “Judge” is his first name and not his title.  In 2011, Judge was appointed by Governor Kitzhaber for a position on the Governor’s Commission on Black Affairs.  Judge had to resign from that position in late 2012 because he was hired as Executive Appointments Assistant for the State of Oregon

James Van Dyke

Identifies as a gay man.  Appointed by then Portland Mayor Sam Adams in 2012 to be City Attorney for Portland

Carole Smith

Identifies as lesbian. Appointed to be Superintendent of Portland Public Schools in 2007. 

Gail Shibley

Identifies as lesbian.  In 2012, Gail was selected by newly elected Portland Mayor Charlie Hales to be his chief of staff.     

Sasha Buchert

Identifies as a transgender woman.  In 2012, Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Sasha to a position on the Oregon State Hospital Advisory Board. Sasha is a longtime LGBT rights activist and was employed by Basic Rights Oregon.  In 2013, Sasha left Oregon to take a position with the Transgender Law Center in California.

Simone Neall

Identifies as a transgender woman.  She is currently a member of the State Construction Contractors Board.

Michael J. McShane

Identifies as a gay man. He was nominated by President Obama and approved by the U.S. Senate to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. He took office in May, 2013. He was openly gay when nominated.

Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton

Identifies as a bisexual woman. In April of 2013, Ismoon was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to be a member of the Trustees of the State Library. She resigned that position in late 2014, when she moved out of state.

Shelly Casteel

Identifies as lesbian. In February, 2014, Shelly was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to a four year term on the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board.

Holly Hart

Identifies as lesbian. Holly was appointed in 1976 as Chair of Governor Robert Straub's Task Force on Sexual Preference

Jerry Weller

Identifies as a gay man. Jerry was appointed by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to the position of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission in 1978.

Virginia Linder

Identifies as lesbian. Oregon Assistant Attorney General in the Appellate Division (1980-1983); Oregon Attorney-in-Charge of the Education Section, General Counsel Division (1983 -1984); Oregon Assistant Solicitor General (1984-1986); Oregon Solicitor General (1986-1997).
This article covers only appointed office. For Virginia’s subsequent judicial career, please see http://glapn.org/6014OregonLGBTElected.html.

Donna Henderson

Identifies as lesbian. Donna was a 24-year veteran of the Police Bureau and commander of the Detective Division in 2013 when she was promoted to Assistant Chief of Investigations. (https://www.portlandoregon.gov/mayor/article/433248) Donna is also Chair, Alliance for Safe Communities (ASC), which had previously been called the Sexual Minority Roundtable. “The group discusses bias crimes and is a liaison mainly between the PPB and LGBTQ community, but invites any interested community member to attend its meetings.” Donna stated in a 2013 meeting that she is a lesbian, adding that she been supported by the Portland Police Bureau in her career and is “really coming along.” (https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oehr/article/448864)

Geoffrey Wren

Elizabeth L. Perris

Identifies as a lesbian. On April 1, 1984, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals appointed Elizabeth L. Perris U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Oregon. She served in that position until January 2015. Judge Perris was out to most of her colleagues from the beginning and she says that none of them made an issue of it. Judge Perris was a member of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit from 1988-1993 and from 1998-2005. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for Ninth Circuit hears appeals from nine western states. Judge Perris was a member of the United States Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules from 2007-2014. As part of her Committee responsibilities, she served as the Chairperson of the Forms Subcommittee and Forms Modernization Project which oversaw modernizing national bankruptcy forms. She served as Chairperson of the Bankruptcy Judges’ Education Committee and board member of the Federal Judicial Center. In the process, she helped educate new bankruptcy judges from throughout the country. Judge Perris was a judicial mediator in many bankruptcy matters, including the chapter 9 cases filed by the cities of Detroit, Stockton, Mammoth Lakes, and Vallejo. (Information provided in an email from her spouse Beverly Schnabel on February 18, 2015.)

Rives Kistler

Identifies as a gay man. Rives was appointed to the Oregon Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General in 1987. He remained there until 1999 when he was appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals to fill a vacancy. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rives_Kistler)

Fay Stetz-Waters

Identifies as a lesbian. Fay was appointed Director of Civil Rights for the Oregon Department of Justice in early 2019. (https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/bio/fay-stetz-waters/fay_stetz-waters/) She also became Assistant attorney General.  (https://www.facebook.com/events/2272444163043786/ ) Fay is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ African American to hold Oregon public office.

Misha Izaak,

Identifies as a gay man. Appointed Deputy General Counsel to Governor Kate Brown in April 2015. Appointed General Counsel to Governor Kate Brown in August 2017.
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/misha-isaak-27b712b5/)

Nathaniel Boehme

Identifies as a gay man. Nathaniel became the nation’s full-time LGBTQ Veterans’ Services Coordinator with the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs in May of 2016. (http://glapn.org/6573NathanielBoehme.html)

On September 11, 2019, Nathaniel was appointed to and sworn in for service on the Police Review Board for the City of Portland. (From his Facebook post on September 13, 2019 https://www.facebook.com/nathaniel.boehme)