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."
Tanya Melich
Tanya Melich is one of the founders of the modern women's political movement. She was born in Moab, Utah on April 23, 1936 and co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus and was an early leader of the National Women's Education Fund, which focused on educating women in gaining political power. Melich attended every Republican National Convention from 1952 through 1996 except 1984. Melich served on the staffs of Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits, Charles Goodell, and John Lindsay. In 1998, she left the Republican Party over women's issues. She coined the phrase, "Republican war against women." She now considers herself a Jeffords independent in the mold of the former U.S. Senator from Vermont.