Kathy Kozachenko

Kathy Kozachenko
Ann Arbor City Council, Second Ward
In office 1974–1976
Preceded by	Nancy Wechsler (HR)
Succeeded by	Earl W. Greene (D)
Personal details
Political party	Human Rights Party

In April 1974, Kathy Kozachenko's successful bid for a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan city council made her the first openly gay or lesbian candidate to run successfully for political office in the United States. Kozachenko ran on the ticket of the local, progressive Human Rights Party (HRP), which had already succeeded in winning two Ann Arbor council seats in 1972.

Kozachenko's HRP predecessors on the city council, Nancy Wechsler and Jerry DeGrieck, had come out as a lesbian and gay man during their first and only terms on city council, thus becoming the first openly LGBT public-office holders in the United States. However, Wechsler and DeGrieck did not run for office as an open LGBT individual.

Kozachenko served one two-year term before leaving politics. She would later meet her long-time partner, MaryAnn Geiger (who died in 2010), and have one son.