Pat Norman, a trailblazing lesbian in San Francisco who became a "first" in some important city appointments, died Aug. 5 at an assisted living facility in Las Vegas, according to The Bay Area Reporter. Norman, born Patricia Richardson, was 82.

Karen Langsley, Norman's former partner, said that Norman had suffered from dementia for many years and had other health problems. Rupert Kinnard—Norman's longtime friend and godfather to one of her children—said that she died in her sleep.

Norman was the second Black lesbian to serve on the San Francisco Police Commission, to which she was appointed by former mayor Willie Brown. She also served on the fire and human rights commissions. She ran for supervisor three times, and is believed to be the first African American lesbian to do so, but she came up short in her bids for public office.

In 1971, Norman co-founded the Lesbian Mothers Union with Del Martin and other individuals.

Norman spent much of her career working at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), where she was the first out gay or lesbian employee (starting in the late '70s), and later was the longtime executive director at the Institute for Community Health Outreach, which trains outreach workers in the Bay Area and elsewhere.

Langsley added that, during the AIDS epidemic, Norman was the coordinator for lesbian and gay health services at DPH.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg portrayed Norman in the 2017 docuseries When We Rise.

The full article is at Website Link Here .