Kevin Lee wishes it wouldn't matter that he's gay. But it does. Last week, Lee, 35, was elected to the Lansdowne Borough Council. Lansdowne is a suburb just across the southwest Philadelphia border, with a population of about 11,000 and a reputation for progressiveness. Lee, a Delaware County native, has lived in the borough for three years, and was appointed to the council in June 2004 after another member unexpectedly resigned. In this, the first election since his appointment, Lee received 1,244 votes, coming in fourth out of 10 candidates (the top five candidates won seats) and beating the highest-placing Republican by more than 200 votes. This made him the first openly gay person ever elected to public office in Delaware County.

Three days after the results came in, Lee sat in a Center City bookstore and discussed the milestone. He is an enormous man, towering and broad, with a thick goatee and a bald head. The attention paid to his victory, he says, has been disproportionate—he laughs as he recalls a newspaper headline that read, "Lee wins Lansdowne," as if he'd been the only one running.

"This is big to the gay and lesbian community because they have representation," he says. "It shouldn't mean a lot to anyone else."

Dave DeCicco of the Victory Fund, a national organization dedicated to electing qualified gay and lesbian candidates to public office, says that Lee's win is a promising step in Pennsylvania. There are fewer than 10 "out" public officials statewide, and this is one of 20 states with none in the state legislature. Still, Victory considers Pennsylvania "fertile ground," (unlike "barren" Alabama) and with wins like Lee's, along with last week's election of Ann Butchart, the first out official elected in Philadelphia, as a Court of Common Pleas judge, Pennsylvania could be "building a bench" of out candidates for higher office down the road.

Renee Gilinger, co-chair of the Liberty City Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club, says she would like to see an out person competing for a Philadelphia City Council seat in 2007.

"We don't have anybody in particular that's lining up," she says. But Butchart says she believes that, once she has served, others will emerge.

"That's the thing about being first," the newly elected judge says. "People will be able to say, wait we already have [an out official] serving."

Lee, whose council seat is a volunteer position, works as a registered nurse and says he has no greater political aspirations at this point. "I'm a horrible politician," he says. He's glad to provide representation for what he perceives to be a growing gay and lesbian population in Lansdowne, and otherwise, he says, wants to concentrate on being the chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee.

But there are other residents of Lansdowne to whom Lee's sexual orientation is an issue. Evangelical activist Michael Marcavage—he of the protests at Philadelphia's Outfest—resides in the borough, and has made Lee a target of his ministry, or his wrath, depending on your outlook [Cover, "Jesus Geek Superstar," Doron Taussig, Feb. 3, 2005]. When Lee was first appointed to his seat, Marcavage came to a council meeting to read aloud from the Bible those portions that appear to condemn homosexuality, and later attacked Lee as "unqualified." Asked for a comment about Lee's election, Marcavage wrote, via e-mail: "The citizens of Lansdowne have once again rejected God by voting for those who do not honor and fear Him, and there will be consequences." He went on to quote William Penn: "Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

Lee now jokingly refers to Marcavage as "my boyfriend," but he is using humor to deflect frustration. Lee had been wary of serving on council for fear that his sexual orientation would become a distraction. It has, of course—whether Lee wants to be a trailblazer or not, he is one. In addition to Marcavage's barbs, he has received threatening phone calls and a recent entreaty from a Democratic neighbor to "learn his place" and "keep his mouth shut."

There may be others in Lansdowne who disapprove more civilly of having a gay man in public office. But there doesn't seem to be much of a constituency for anti-gay sentiment in the borough. With the arguable exception of a single piece of literature attacking the Democrats for Marcavage's removal from a council meeting, Lee's sexuality was not made a campaign issue by either side in last week's election. Instead, everyone focused on taxes, schools and infrastructure.

Lee hopes that his sexual orientation will continue to fade as an issue. But if more attacks come, he plans to be ready.

"I'm never going to learn my place," he says, "and I'm never going to keep my mouth shut."