Before Glen Maxey took office in 1991 as the first openly gay member in the Texas Legislature, he had to find someone to replace him at his old job.
A surprise winner in a House special election in Austin, Maxey had made a name for himself in political circles as the executive director of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.
He passed the torch to the only other employee in the office, a lobbyist fresh out of law school who had started a few weeks earlier: Laurie Eiserloh.
“I thrust her into a public career path really quickly,” Maxey recalled recently.
Eiserloh, 29 years later, is running for en elected position of her own, county attorney in Travis County. If she wins, she would be the first openly gay person to hold that position, although it’s unlikely anyone will make a big deal about it.
Unlike Maxey’s ceiling-shattering victory from three decades earlier, Eiserloh’s sexuality has been reduced to a footnote in her campaign, which she sees as a sign of progress for the LGBTQ community after decades of marginalization. She instead has trumpeted her 13-point criminal justice reform plan and her board certifications in two areas of the law.
“Me being openly gay has not been a big part of this race,” Eiserloh said. “And that’s OK.”
Eiserloh, 56, is married to her longtime partner, Jess Chapin. The two wed in 2009 in Massachusetts, which five years earlier became the first state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. They have two children, a 20-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter.
Eiserloh, after replacing Maxey in the gay rights lobby, tried with others to repeal the state’s anti-sodomy law that made homosexual activity a criminal act. They convinced the state Senate to keep out the law from a model statute that had been proposed to replace the state penal code. But they were thwarted by a Republican-controlled House.
She fought for AIDS funding, but that, too, ended in defeat. A Republican lawmaker caused a stir by comparing AIDS funding to pouring money “down a rat hole.” The next day, Eiserloh recalls, members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT Up, showed up to the Capitol dressed as rats.
“Dark days I would never ever want to go back to,” she said.
Eiserloh, taking a moment to collect herself during a recent conversation at a Central Austin coffee shop, added, “I hope my children never witness such days.”
Eiserloh was among five openly gay candidates who ran for a law-related office in the March 3 Democratic primary in Travis County. Selena Alvarenga was the only winner, securing the party nomination in the 460th District criminal court judicial race. She has a Republican opponent in November.
Albert Amado (criminal judicial), Maggie Ellis (civil judicial) and Liz Donegan (sheriff) were defeated.
Eiserloh, an assistant to retiring County Attorney David Escamilla, finished the night ahead of two opponents with superior political resumes. It marked an impressive rise from six months earlier when Eiserloh launched a campaign in September as a political unknown with seemingly little more than a puncher’s chance.
But the 42.2% of the vote she secured was shy of the majority Eiserloh needed to win outright, pushing the race to a runoff. Awaiting her is Austin City Council Member Delia Garza, herself a trailblazer as the first Latina on the council. Garza took 38.9% of the vote. Former misdemeanor courts Judge Mike Denton was a distant third followed by defense lawyer Dominic Selvera.
The county attorney oversees one of the most influential law offices in the area, with a misdemeanor criminal division plus a civil litigation division that represents and advises other county elected officials. Eiserloh has pulled in endorsements from County Commissioners Brigid Shea and Margaret Gomez. Denton, after losing in the primary, also announced support for Eiserloh.
She has also received backing from several local political groups, including the Stonewall Democrats of Austin, a group that advocates for gay rights.
The election is May 26.
“Her sexual orientation, if anything, is an advantage now in a race in Travis County,” Maxey said of Eiserloh. “Times have mightily changed since those days.”
With Maxey busting down the door to the capitol, other gay legislators followed. Celia Israel, D-Austin, entered the House in January 2014, joining Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso, who describes herself orientation as pansexual, meaning she does not limit her sexual choice to sex or gender identity. Israel and Gonzalez ahead of the most recent session last year formed the Legislature’s first LGBTQ Caucus with new House members Jessica González, Julie Johnson, and Erin Zwiener.
The Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 2018, Lupe Valdez, campaigned as the first openly gay candidate to win a major party nomination for governor in Texas.
Maxey, believing he had little chance of winning, nevertheless had entered that first Texas House race in 1991 to “hold liberal voters and liberal organizations accountable for their political correctness.” Thirteen people entered the February race to replace District 51 Rep. Lena Guerrero, who had accepted a position on the Texas Railroad Commission.
Governor-elect Ann Richards told him it was a mistake, Maxey told outhistory.org, citing his orientation. Maxey, Richards surmised, would be viewed as a single-issue candidate focused only on advancing gay rights.
Maxey got 25% of the vote and moved to a runoff against lawyer and fellow Democrat David Rodriguez, who nipped Maria Luisa “Lulu” Flores for second place after a recount broke an election night tie.
Three weeks later, Maxey won the runoff with 54% of the vote, telling the American-Statesman at the time that he felt “numb.” Eiserloh recalls watching a national TV talk show in the build up to the election — the Phil Donahue Show, she thinks — when a political consultant came on and mapped out a path to victory for Maxey.
“The audience was in disbelief,” she said.
Maxey ended up serving six terms in the House before retiring after the 2001 session. Eiserloh lasted two Legislative sessions with the gay rights lobby before she got burned out and left. She went on to work in government law with the state, the city and finally the county.
Her activism for gay rights continued with the Episcopal church, which has come around in recent years to recognize same sex marriages and in 2003 ordained a homosexual bishop. She called that work “cream puff,” compared to the lost battles at the capitol against rural legislators.
“To be able to negotiate that stuff, keep her cool and be strategic, it was a great training ground for her,” Maxey said.
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