Sheila Kuehl
Kuehl was elected to the California State Assembly in 1994, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. While running for office Kuehl found she was able to offset some negative stereotypes people had about lesbians thanks to their familiarity with her role as Zelda. She told an interviewer "When people know gay people personally, they tend to feel differently about the whole community. And all of a sudden, here's a person that they knew very well that they found out was lesbian."
Sheila Simon
Simon was on the Carbondale city council from 2003 to 2007 and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Carbondale in 2007. Subsequently, Governor Quinn selected her to serve on the Illinois Reform Commission, which helped to establish the first political contribution limits in Illinois law.