California's first openly gay Assembly
speaker was sworn in on Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle
reported.
After taking the oath, Assemblyman John
Perez, a Los Angeles Democrat, paid tribute to the gay and lesbian
Californian politicians that came before him, saying his achievements
would not be possible if not for “people like Elaine Noble, Harvey
Milk and Sheila James Kuehl, who blazed a trail of pride and purpose
for gay and lesbian Californians to serve our state.”
The Assembly's Democratic caucus
unanimously agreed to support Perez, 40, in December. He was elected
to the post in a 48 to 26 vote split mainly along party lines in
January.
Instead of voting for Perez,
Republicans nominated caucus leader Sam Blakeslee as speaker. The
nomination was purely symbolic since Democrats, who outnumber
Republicans, had already signaled they were united behind Perez.
Perez's ascension comes during his
first term – a meteoric rise that caught many off guard – which
gives the Latino politician the possibility of serving for almost
five years, an unusually long tenure for a state that limits service.
In introducing Perez, Assemblywoman
Fiona Ma, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said Perez's election “sends
a signal to the nation that being gay no longer is a barrier to
greatness, and that in California we believe in human rights, civil
rights and equal rights.”