E. Denise Simmons received a lot of press coverage last week when she took office in Cambridge, Massachusetts as the nation’s first openly lesbian, African-American mayor.
What wasn’t revealed in the first round of press coverage was that she is also the mother of four and the grandmother of three. The Boston EDGE just published an interview with her, in which she praises Cambridge’s accepting atmosphere: “My children can go to school feeling that it’s OK to refer to their two moms, without people folding up like a fan.”
The article also notes her 10 years on the Cambridge School Committee, and her role in establishing an LGBT Family Liasion to communicate between schools and LGBT families. Now, she also wants to “find ways to coordinate the City’s child services . . . to best provide a suite of fully encompassing programs and attentions aimed at fostering the overall development of the child.” She also plans to continue her leading role with the city’s GLBT commission.
Simmons will doubtless have an impact beyond the areas of LGBT rights, schools, and child services. Her Web site covers her positions on public safety, housing, economic development, and civic participation. Still, it seems clear that her experience as both a lesbian and a mother influences her work, and that can only be a good thing.