In June 1997 C.E., at an LGBT pride event in Hartford, Connecticut, a state legislator stepped to the microphone and changed history. “I am a bisexual woman in love with a woman,” Evelyn Mantilla told the crowd — then proposed to her partner, Babette, on the spot. In doing so, she became the first openly bisexual state official in the United States.
Key facts
- Bisexual state official: Mantilla came out publicly at a Hartford pride event in June 1997 C.E., making her the first openly bisexual state-level elected official in U.S. history.
- Connecticut legislature: She had been elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives just months earlier, in February 1997 C.E., after her opponent was convicted of voter fraud following a bitterly contested race.
- Latina representation: Mantilla represented Hartford’s predominantly Latino 4th district — bringing together two historically underrepresented identities at the highest point of visibility for either.
A road full of obstacles
Mantilla’s path to the statehouse was anything but easy. Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, she moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1978. She earned an associate’s degree in computer science from Manchester Community College and a bachelor’s degree in management, magna cum laude, from the University of Saint Joseph.
Her first run for office — a Hartford City Council race in 1993 — ended in a loss by just 16 votes. Her second campaign, in 1996, was darker still. She and her 100 volunteers faced death threats, threats of physical violence, and an attempted arson of their campaign headquarters. She lost that election too, to incumbent Eddie Garcia. But Garcia was later convicted of voter fraud, a new election was called, and Mantilla won.
She entered the Connecticut General Assembly in February 1997 C.E. Four months later, she came out.
What the moment meant
The United States in 1997 C.E. was a different country for LGBTQ+ people. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was federal policy. Same-sex marriage was not legal anywhere in the country. Public figures who were gay or lesbian faced enormous professional and personal risk. Bisexual people were even less visible — often dismissed by both straight and gay communities.
Mantilla’s declaration did not fit a tidy political script. She was a Latina woman representing a working-class urban district, coming out as bisexual while proposing to her partner — all at once, in public. It was direct, personal, and wholly her own.
When Pentecostal minister Gabriel Carreras ran against her as an independent in 1998 C.E. on an explicitly anti-gay platform — claiming she was “promoting the homosexual lifestyle in our schools” — Mantilla won re-election with 88% of the vote. Her constituents answered clearly.
Lasting impact
Mantilla served in the Connecticut House until January 2007 C.E., winning re-election in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Throughout her tenure, she focused on issues affecting lower-income communities, pushed for election reform, and worked toward same-sex marriage legalization in Connecticut — which became law in 2008 C.E.
Her visibility as an openly bisexual official came years before bisexual identity gained meaningful recognition in mainstream political discourse. She helped establish that elected officials could be out, multidimensional, and effective — not despite their identities, but as whole people.
After leaving office, she served as communications manager for the city of Hartford and later as executive director of ITNCentralCT, a nonprofit providing transportation for seniors and people with visual disabilities. She also led Mantilla Leadership Solutions and worked with Grossman Solutions, a public affairs firm. The National Council for Community and Justice and the National Association of Social Workers are among the organizations that have recognized her contributions.
More broadly, her 1997 C.E. coming-out is part of a longer arc. The Movement Advancement Project tracks how LGBTQ+ representation in elected office has grown steadily since the 1990s, with bisexual and transgender officials becoming more visible only in the 2010s and 2020s. Mantilla was well ahead of that curve.
Blindspots and limits
The historical record on Mantilla is thinner than it deserves to be. Much of what exists comes from a single Wikipedia article and a handful of secondary sources — a reminder that LGBTQ+ milestones, especially those involving bisexual people and women of color, have been systematically under-documented. Her story is treated as a footnote in broader histories of LGBTQ+ political progress, even though she broke ground that others would not reach for years.
It is also worth being precise: she was the first openly bisexual state official on record. Other bisexual officials may have served without being out. History’s firsts are always firsts in what was documented, not necessarily in what happened.
The GLBTQ Archives and similar institutions are working to fill gaps like these — preserving records that mainstream political history has often left behind. And the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which supports out candidates for office, traces part of its mission directly to moments like Mantilla’s.
Read more
For more on this story, see: Wikipedia — Evelyn Mantilla
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Marie-Louise Eta becomes the first female head coach in men’s top-flight European football
- Global suicide rate has fallen by 40% since 1995
- The Good News for Humankind archive on United States
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