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When Jennifer Veiga (PolSci鈥�83) told her dad she was gay, it immediately caused him concern for her political career: 鈥淲ill that hurt you when you run for office?鈥� he asked.

鈥淚 told him I thought it might and that it was just one more hurdle I鈥檇 have to cross,鈥� Jennifer says.

By just about any measure, Jennifer cleared that hurdle by a comfortable margin, winning seats in Colorado鈥檚 House of Representatives four times between 1996 and 2002 and a seat in the Colorado Senate in 2003 as the first openly gay state legislator in the state鈥檚 history. And many say her subsequent work as a lawmaker has lowered that hurdle for Centennial state gays and lesbians, leveling the playing field by focusing on employment, health insurance, adoption and other areas including hate crimes.

The road wasn鈥檛 always smooth. Before one election, she learned political foes were going to 鈥渙ut her.鈥� She faced a decision: status quo (鈥淎 lot of people already knew I was gay, but I hadn鈥檛 made any kind of formal public announcement because I didn鈥檛 think it was really relevant.鈥�) or come out.

After talking it over with her campaign staff and friends, she called the Rocky Mountain News in 2003 and explained her sexual orientation.

鈥淚 decided it would be better to be proactive instead of reactive.鈥�

Evidently it was a good decision 鈥� Jennifer won the election with nearly 60 percent of the vote.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 advise others whether to come out or not 鈥� it鈥檚 a personal decision,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut for me it was very freeing and probably the best decision I鈥檝e ever made. I wish I鈥檇 done it sooner.鈥�

She says she first became interested in politics at CU and interned with former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart and Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm.

鈥淚 really wasn鈥檛 that interested in politics before college, but something brought it out in me at CU,鈥� she says.

Looking back at her legislative career 鈥� she鈥檚 in her final four-year Senate term and is term-limited 鈥� she says she鈥檚 most proud of helping change the climate toward gays in Colorado.

What鈥檚 next? She says she鈥檒l spend more time in her day job as special counsel for Denver law firm Hall & Evans. Will she ever seek office again?

鈥淚鈥檝e learned never to say never,鈥� she exclaims.

Her advice for current CU students: 鈥淚f you have the interest, enter politics. It鈥檚 a tremendous opportunity to give back, to make a difference and change the landscape.鈥�

Something Jennifer knows a lot about.