Chuck Carpenter

Carpenter was born in Rochester, New York.[1] He graduated from the University of Rochester with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1985 and then served in the United States Navy from 1985 until 1991.[2][3]

Carpenter was elected to the Oregon House in 1994, defeating Democrat Jeanne Atkins by less than a hundred votes to represent a district which included all Portland suburbs north of Sunset Highway, as well as Cedar Hills, Sauvie Island, and the rural areas in between. He was re-elected over Democrat Bob Shook by a wider margin in 1996, 58% to 42%.[4]

In 1995, Carpenter said in an interview with the New York Times that he was often shunned by other members of the gay community due to his being a Republican: "I've been accepted in many ways better by my Republican colleagues, granted, they may disagree with me and not be too happy with the fact that I'm gay, but there's a willingness to work with me, whereas in the gay community, people looked at me for a while as the Jew working for the Nazis."[5]

While serving in the Legislature, Carpenter sponsored HB 2734, which was a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The bill was denied a committee hearing, so Carpenter attempted to force a vote directly on the House floor. A compromise was later reached in which the bill would be revised and sent to a different committee. The revised version easily passed the House but failed by one vote in the Senate.[6][7] The Republican leadership, angry over his sponsorship of that bill, attempted to force him out of the party, but Carpenter refused. He was challenged in the 1998 primary by "ultra-conservative" Bill Witt, a two-time congressional candidate who had the backing of anti-gay organizations. While Carpenter had the backing of Speaker Lynn Snodgrass, he ultimately lost by 46 votes.[4][8]

Carpenter drew fire from gay rights activists, including from the Log Cabin Republicans, for endorsing Gordon Smith for U.S. Senate in 1996. Smith was seen as anti-gay, but Carpenter argued that he had changed his views, saying, "he was ignorant of gay and lesbian issues. I stepped in at a time that was very controversial and took an enormous amount of heat from the gay community because of my endorsement of him. I take a lot of pride in being able to change a very conservative man's opinion of gays and lesbians."[9][10]

Since 1999, Carpenter has been Executive Director of Manufactured Housing Communities of Oregon. He was president of the Oregon Small Business Coalition between 2012 and 2014.[2]

• List of the first LGBT holders of political offices in the United States