Gordon Lau
Encyclopedia
Gordon J. Lau was the first Chinese American
elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
in San Francisco, California
. He was elected to the city board of supervisors under Mayor George Moscone
in 1977. Other notable supervisors at the time included Dianne Feinstein
, Carol Ruth Silver
, Quentin L. Kopp
, Dan White
, and Harvey Milk
(the first openly gay individual to serve). Much like his colleague Milk, who had been an important activist for the LGBT
community of San Francisco, Lau was an activist for the city's Asian American
community. Gordon J. Lau Elementary School in Chinatown is named in his honor.
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. He was elected to the city board of supervisors under Mayor George Moscone
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
in 1977. Other notable supervisors at the time included Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
, Carol Ruth Silver
Carol Ruth Silver
Carol Ruth Silver is an American lawyer and former politician. She was a Freedom Rider arrested and incarcerated for 40 days in Jackson, Mississippi,...
, Quentin L. Kopp
Quentin L. Kopp
Quentin Lewis Kopp is an American politician and retired judge. He served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and in the California State Senate. Kopp ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of San Francisco in 1979 against Dianne Feinstein...
, Dan White
Dan White
Daniel James "Dan" White was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall...
, and Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
(the first openly gay individual to serve). Much like his colleague Milk, who had been an important activist for the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community of San Francisco, Lau was an activist for the city's Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
community. Gordon J. Lau Elementary School in Chinatown is named in his honor.