page_title: Jeanette Williams
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Jeanette Williams / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: Mayor Uhlman and Seattle Women's Commission - Signing Proclamation
context_page_description: Alice Jeanette Williams, née Alice Jeanette Klemptner, was an American politician and human and women's rights activist from Seattle, Washington. She served on the Seattle City Council from 1969 to 1989. In 1962, she became the first woman to head the King County Democrats as well as any major political party in a large metropolitan area in the United States.
context_section_description: Williams began her political career while serving as a precinct committee officer. In 1962, she became the first woman to chair the King County Democrats as well as any other major political party in a large metropolitan area in the country.
  In 1969, she won a seat on the Seattle City Council where she would serve for twenty years after five consecutive re-elections. Williams introduced some of the first legislation to prohibit employment and housing discrimination against gays and lesbians in the city. She pushed for additional laws giving the same protections to transgender people. Councilman Tom Rasmussen noted that Williams "fought for women's rights and the rights of gay and lesbian people long before it was acceptable, when it was a very courageous and risky thing to do."
  In 1972, Williams formed the Seattle Women's Commission to advise the mayor, city council, and city departments on issues that impact women in Seattle. During her tenure, she lobbied the federal government for funding for the construction of the West Seattle Bridge and led and supported many efforts related to Seattle parks. She introduced legislation to convert Kubota Garden to a city park and promoted the preservation of the Sand Point Naval Air Station as Magnuson Park.
caption: Williams with Mayor Uhlman signing proclamation for Seattle Women's Commission, August 23, 1972
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