User:Jeffers.s9/Roberta Achtenberg

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Roberta Achtenberg (born July 20, 1950) is an American attorney who served as a commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She was previously assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, becoming the first openly lesbian or gay public official in the United States whose appointment to a federal position was confirmed by the United States Senate. This confirmation hearing garnered a lot of publicity, opposition, and support.

Before her political career, Achtenberg lived in California and went to school at different branches of the University of California and later attended the University of Utah. She worked as an attorney, director, educator, and founded organizations.  '''Achtenberg is married with a son, and has been locally and nationally recognized with many awards and has made many publications throughout her career. '''

Early life
Achtenberg's father was Jewish and immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union, while her mother was from Quebec. Both parents had minimal formal education. They owned a grocery store in Los Angeles and raised Roberta and her three siblings in California.

Education
After graduating from Morningside High School in Inglewood, California, Achtenberg attended University of California, Los Angeles before graduating from University of California, Berkeley in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. At Berkeley, she graduated Phi Beta Cappa. Achtenberg also met her ex-husband, David Chavkin at UC Berkeley. She began law school at University of California, Hastings College of the Law, before eventually receiving her Juris Doctor  from the University of Utah in 1975.

Personal Life
Roberta Achtenberg and David Chavkin divorced in a cordial manner in 1977, and soon after came out to her family as a lesbian. After Achtenberg came out publicly, she received national support and opposition. LGBTQ+ people and allies rallied in her support, and religious and conservative groups lobbied against her.

Achtenberg met her former partner, Mary Morgan, judge on the San Francisco Municipal Court, in 1979, and became partners in 1982. In 1985, Achtenberg and Morgan had a child, Benjamin. During a San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade, Achtenberg and Mary Morgan hugged and kissed while riding a float with their son, which generated controversy during her entrance to her federal political career. Achtenberg and Morgan were one of the most visible lesbian couples with a child at the time of Achtenberg's political career.

Career
Roberta Achtenberg worked as a civil rights and public interest advocate and teacher at law schools.

In 1976, Achtenberg became the Dean of the New College of California School of Law and additionally taught public interest lawyers at the school.

Achtenberg supported the LGBTQ community early in her political career. Her activity included co-founding the National Center for Lesbian Rights '''in 1977, along with Donna Hitchens. The center works for LGBTQ+ individuals, and provides them with legal services and counsel, advocacy, and education services.'''

While working for the organization, she edited Sexual Orientation and the Law (1985). One issue this project highlighted was making a guide for how to give lesbian and gay people appropriate representation. The paper outlines how to properly represent LGBTQ+ juveniles, how to tackle First Amendment issues regarding LGBTQ+ people or speech, and more.

Achtenberg has formerly worked at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco on the Board of Directors from 1997 to 2002, and worked as a Staff Attorney for the Lesbian Rights Project of Equal Rights Advocates.

She currently works for the Lennar Corporation as a Senior Advisor, serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bank of San Francisco, and is a founder and a partner at ABK City Advisors.

Political Career
'''In her tenure on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she worked on issues from individuals' rights to small businesses to making domestic violence shelters. '''

'''In her role as Assistant Secretary, Achtenberg successfully integrated a previously all-white town in Vidor, Texas. There was Ku Klux Klan opposition to this public housing integration. She additionally worked to help find housing for displaced families due to a hurricane in 1994, and worked on improving fairness in the housing systems. ''' Her group was also awarded Vice President Gore's Hammer Award.

n 2000, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of California State University by Governor Gray Davis, becoming chair of the board in May 2006, serving on the CSU Board of Trustees until 2015.

Achtenberg served 16 years on the California State University Board of Trustees, serving two years as chair, where she developed the Access to Excellence Plan. Achtenberg also was crucial in the formation of the CSU Institute for Palliative Care, and was a member of the Palliative Care's National Advisory Board. Because of her extensive work with California State University, she was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters.

On January 26, 2011, President Barack Obama named Achtenberg as the Commissioner for the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She served until 2016.

More to be added:

- Info about accomplishments on Board of Supervisors

--- Tenants rights, wheelchair access, small business rights, domestic violence (1)

- Info about her accomplishments at HUD (1)

---Fairness in housing mortgage, integrated public housing project (with opposition from Ku Klux Klan) (1), finding housing for low income groups displaced by 1994 hurricane (1)

- Info about accomplishments on USCCR

Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Nomination and Confirmation Hearing[edit]
Roberta Achtenberg was nominated, by President Bill Clinton, to be the Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her confirmation was announced during the lift of the ban on letting gay people in the military. Her confirmation hearing was held in front of the Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and started on April 29, 1993.

After debates lasting three days, including nine and a half hours of filibusters on May 19 and 20, Achtenberg was confirmed by the 103th Senate on May 24, 1993, securing a vote of 58 YEAs to 31 NAYs, with 1 voting as present and 10 not voting.  Roberta Achtenberg was the first openly LGBTQ+ individual to go through the senate confirmation process, and the subsequently was the first LGBTQ+ individual to hold a federal position.

During the hearing, Achtenberg was questioned by many Senators, including Senators Faircloth, Boxer, and Bond. '''Throughout the process, she was loudly opposed by Senator Jesse Helms, who called her "a damn lesbian" that the Senate should refuse to confirm to the position.  Achtenberg also received opposition from the Christian Action Network, due to her radical lesbian activism.  Achtenberg received endorsements from many organizations and people, such as the National Fair Housing Alliance, San Francisco Bar Association, the National Association of Human Rights Workers, Senator Feinstein, and Congresswoman Pelosi.'''

She also expressed her own viewpoints and goals related to the position. Achtenberg stated that in the role of Assistant Secretary, she would strive to eradicate housing discrimination and allow people to make free and fair choices surrounding their housing.

Awards

 * Advocate Article, a gay and lesbian magazine, named Achtenberg the advocate's woman of the year in 1993.
 * Awarded the Visibility Award in 1994 from GLAAD Media Awards
 * Recognized five times as one of the "50 Most Influential Businesswomen" in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times
 * Awarded the Founders Award from the National Center for Lesbian Rights
 * Awarded the Award of Excellence by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition
 * Awarded "Woman of the Year" by the California State Senate for the Third District
 * Declared Management Volunteer of the Year by the United Way, Bay Area
 * Received the Southern California Women for Understanding Achievement Award
 * Received the Women of Achievement Award from the National Organization for Women
 * Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at California State University and California State University San Marco s
 * In 2012, she was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the LGBT History Month.
 * In 2021, she was name a Pride Honoree by the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus in recognition of her pioneering advocacy work and for being the first openly LGBTQ person to hold a federal position.