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 McHale
Born in Yorkshire, England she emigrated to Western Australia in 1978. She was first elected to State Parliament in 1996 and served as the Shadow Minister for Health, the Arts and Heritage. During this period, she spent three years as an elected councillor.