Bay Area Reporter founding publisher Bob Ross was appointed to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District Board of Directors.
Our March 3, 1983 article noted that Ross was the first openly gay person named to the district by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which appoints several of the directors.
The vote was 10-1, with board President Wendy Nelder in opposition, which LGBTQ political observers took as a move against the community.
The article quoted Nelder as saying she would dissent, but she did not offer a reason, other than to quip that the B.A.R. stated that Nelder's father, former San Francisco Police Chief Alfred J.