john laird (born march 29, 1950) was secretary of the california natural resources agency from 2011-2019 and a former legislator who represented the 27th district in the california state assembly until 2008. the 27th district included parts of santa clara county, santa cruz county and monterey county. laird (along with mark leno) was one of the first two openly gay men to serve in the california legislature. laird become one of the united states first openly gay mayors in 1983 when he took over the mayoralty of the city of santa cruz, california.