John Laird (born March 29, 1950), an American politician, is the California State Senator for District 17, since 7 December 2020, and was Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency from 2011-2019 and a former legislator who represented the 27th district in the California State Assembly until 2008. The 27th district included parts of Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County and Monterey County. Laird (along with Mark Leno) was one of the first two openly gay men to serve in the California legislature. Laird became one of the United States' first openly gay mayors in 1983 when he took over the mayoralty of the city of Santa Cruz, California. Early life Laird was raised in Vallejo, California, and educated in Vallejo public schools. Laird's parents were both educators. He graduated from Adlai Stevenson College of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1972 with an A.B. in Politics with general college honors, honors from the Board of Politics, and honors on an undergraduate thesis on the history of water development in California. Laird served for two years on the district staff of United States Representative Jerome Waldie, and worked during the summer of 1974 for Rep. Bill Gunter of Florida in his run for the U.S. Senate. Laird moved to Santa Cruz, California and joined the staff of the Santa Cruz County Administrator in 1974 and later served in the personnel and social services departments. City Council and Mayor In 1981, Laird received the most votes in a field of eight to be elected to a seat on the Santa Cruz City Council. He was re-elected as top vote-getter in 1985, serving until term limits ended his Council service in 1990. He was elected by the City Council to one-year Mayor's terms in 1983–84 and 1987–88. During his time on the Santa Cruz City Council, he worked with the environmental organization Save Our Shores to lead local governments in the fight against proposed offshore oil drilling and in favor of the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. State Assembly Laird ran unopposed in the 2002 Democratic primary and easily won election to the California Assembly. Laird served as chair of both the Assembly Budget Committee and the Special Session Committee on Budget Process. He also served on the Judiciary Committee, the Labor and Employment Committee, and the Natural Resources Committee. Before being elected to the assembly in 2002,