EDGE Los Angeles

A crowded field of New York City mayoral candidates faced off at Baruch College in an LGBT forum.

If she wins, the president of New York’s City Council, whom some accuse of being too cozy with business interests, will immediately become one of the nation’s most prominent LGBT politicians.

Lesbians are heading nonprofits, winning high public office and getting national media. Here are some outstanding examples of those who have succeeded in a (straight) man’s world.

One year ago, New York became the largest and most influential state where gay marriage is legal, raising supporters’ hopes that it would boost national momentum and pump money into the state with a flurry of weddings from Manhattan to Niagara Falls.

On May 31, homeless LGBT youth advocates were among the many groups who protested at New York’s City Hall against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts.

Seeing a need for wedding bands suited for gay couples, longtime New York couple Jonathan Tack and Sam Street founded Proposition Love, an online jewelry store championing marriage equality.

Voters in the 3rd Council District could potentially see four LGBT candidates on the 2013 primary ballot to succeed outgoing City Council Speaker Christine Quinn once her term expires.

Mel Wymore, former chair of Community Board 7 on the Upper West Side, would become the first transgender person on the New York City Council if elected.

Speculation continues to swirl around whether lesbian New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is seeking to become Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s heir apparent. Her critics have wasted no time blasting her apparent efforts to seek his support.

Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, commissioner of New York City’s Department for the Aging, was among those who testified at the New York City Council’s Committee on Aging’s hearing on services and care for LGBT elders on Monday, Jan. 24.