Issue Number 1005 | Bye, Bye, Black Ceiling | Advocate.com Bye, Bye, Black Ceiling  |  | Advocate.com

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Bye, Bye, Black Ceiling
Jason Bartlett broke multiple barriers when the black state legislator came out as gay.
By Bryan Ochalla
From The Advocate  April 8, 2008
Bye, Bye, Black Ceiling

Connecticut state representative Jason Bartlett is used to being in the minority. In 2006 the African-American politician won the assembly seat in his district -- which is 96% white. This February he officially became one of only six openly gay black elected officials in the United States -- and the first to serve on the state legislature level. While the announcement shocked many people, his family, friends, and even some of his political colleagues weren’t among them.

That’s because the 41-year-old had been having informal conversations over the past few months with people who worked on his campaign, chairmen of the town committees he represents, and other legislators at the state capitol. “I didn’t make an announcement,” says Bartlett, who also serves as cochairman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Connecticut. “I didn’t gather people together. I just started dropping it into casual conversation.”

Bartlett’s constituents, on the other hand, weren’t brought up to speed until they picked up the February 20 issue of The [Danbury] News-Times. The Advocate sat down with Bartlett days later to talk about coming out, raising two teenage boys, and how voters in Connecticut’s 2nd district are taking the news.

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