by Evelyn Bailey
In this month’s Shoulders To Stand On column I want to focus on a Rochester, NY lesbian who had a tremendous impact on gay rights, women’s rights and civil rights – Midge Costanza.
Midge Constanza's parents, Philip and Concetta Granata Constanza, emigrated from Sicily to upstate New York, where they went into the sausage-making business. Margaret Costanza, who was nicknamed Midge, was born on November 28, 1932 in LeRoy, New York and grew up in Rochester. After graduating from high school and holding various clerical jobs she became the administrative assistant to a Rochester real estate developer.
Through this job she became involved in many community organizations. Midge’s interest in local politics began with volunteering on W. Averell Harriman's campaign for governor in 1954. Midge rose through the ranks of the Democratic Party, becoming the county executive director of Robert F. Kennedy's Senate campaign in 1964 and a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1972 to 1977.
Between 1972 and 1977, Midge Costanza’s political aspirations grew beyond Rochester. In 1973 Midge ran for an at-large seat on the Rochester city council and received the largest number of votes in the election, becoming the council's first woman member. Although it was traditional for the leading vote-getter to be named mayor, the council selected a man and named Costanza to the mainly ceremonial post of vice-mayor.
In 1974 Midge ran for the United State House of Representatives, but failed to unseat the Republican incumbent. During the campaign, however, she was surprised to receive a telephone call from the then little-known governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, who was impressed by her record and offered his help. In 1976 Midge returned the favor when Carter ran for president. She was co-chair of his New York campaign operation and gave one of the seconding speeches for him at the Democratic National Convention.
When Carter moved into the Oval Office, Midge Costanza, named presidential assistant for public liaison, moved into the office next door. Called "the President's window to the nation," Midge consulted with a wide array of groups. Among the first was a delegation of gay and lesbian leaders. Jean O'Leary, the co-executive director of the National Gay Task Force (NGTF, now known as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force), who had worked with Midge and Virginia Apuzzo in an unsuccessful effort to insert a gay rights plank into the 1976 Democratic party platform, requested a meeting to discuss issues of importance to the gay and lesbian community. Midge was happy to comply, and in March 1977 she welcomed fourteen gay rights advocates, including O'Leary, Bruce Voeller, Frank Kameny, Charlotte Bunch, and the Reverend Troy Perry, to the White House.
The timing of the meeting was somewhat controversial since Anita Bryant's homophobic "Save Our Children" campaign was in full swing. Never one to shrink from controversy, however, Midge Costanza not only proceeded with the historic meeting but also went on to arrange discussions between NGTF co-directors O'Leary and Voeller and senior administration officials.
Her forthright manner and occasionally biting humor brought Midge, who once described herself as "a loud-mouthed, pushy little broad," the admiration of some, but they rankled others. After various incidents, including her public disagreements with some of the president's policies, Midge Costanza's role in the White House diminished. While affirming her support for Carter, she resigned from his administration in August 1978.
Midge moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to become executive director of her friend Shirley MacLaine's "Higher Self" seminars. Six years later she became a vice-president at Alan Landsburg Productions, where she made commercial films and advertisements. All the while she was also a board member for various service groups, such as the AIDS research organization Search Alliance and the National Gay Rights Advocates.
In 1990, Midge relocated to San Diego County. In addition to her continued board work and involvement in local political issues, she coached political candidates in public speaking, and served as the coordinator for Barbara Boxer's winning campaign for the United States Senate in 1992 and as the manager of Kathleen Brown's unsuccessful bid for governor in 1994. In 2001 California Governor Gray Davis called on Costanza to be his liaison for women's groups and issues. She remained in that job until the end of Davis's administration in November 2003.
The next year Midge began with a new enterprise, teaching a course on the presidency at San Diego State University where she is also working with the Political Science and Women's Studies departments of San Diego State and the Political Science department of the University of California, San Diego to develop the Midge Costanza Institute. The Institute will include a web site through which her extensive archive of documents will be made easily available to scholars. Midge hopes that the Institute, besides offering insights into American history and current political and social issues, will inspire young people to become actively involved in politics and social causes.