Christine Kehoe (she/her)
Christine Kehoe made history when she was elected to the San Diego City Council in 1993 as the first LGBTQIA+ office holder in the county. Chris was the first to win public office in San Diego but she did not do it alone. That first campaign ignited a new level of political power in the LGBTQIA+ community. Queer San Diego was ready to win! Volunteers flooded in and led a people’s campaign to victory.
Prior to that first ground-breaking campaign, Chris had been very active in the gay community and progressive organizations such as the Center for Women’s Studies and Services and the Hillcrest Business Association. She participated in Lesbian Solidarity; was the volunteer coordinator for the AIDS Assistance Fund; and edited the San Diego Gayzette.
Along with Scott Fulkerson, former director of The Center, Chris co-chaired the Pride committee in 1989. We called it the 15/20 committee to celebrate Stonewall and our San Diego anniversary. With the help of a strong board of directors the Pride organization was put on firm footing and evolved into the organization we know and admire today.
Chris was followed in the San Diego City Council District 3 seat by Senator Toni Atkins (now candidate for Governor of California), Todd Gloria (now our Mayor) and Chris Ward, now serving in the Assembly. That is an unbroken record of openly gay office holders in that seat. She went on to win election to the California Assembly (2000) and the state Senate (2004). Chris left the legislature due to term limits in 2012. Chris embraced equal rights, women’s equality and environmental sustainability as her legislative priorities. After the legislature Chris served as executive director of the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative until 2016.
Chris lives in beautiful North Park with Julie Warren, her spouse of almost 40 years.