PASSING THE GAVEL

ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at a news conference

HEROINE

OF THE HOUSE

AN ERA ENDS AS REP. NANCY PELOSI HANDS IN HER SPEAKER’S GAVEL, BUT HER MOMENTOUS HIV WORK WILL CONTINUE.

BY NEAL BROVERMAN

“ONE OF MY motivations in running for Congress was to address the AIDS issue,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi stated in a 2014 interview where she described the start of her political career. Now, 35 years after she won a special election in the House of Representatives and more than 15 years after she became the first female Speaker of the House, Pelosi is preparing to hand her gavel to another Democratic congressperson (she will remain in the House, just not in a leadership role).

Representing much of San Francisco, Pelosi was personally devastated by HIV and, in her first speech in the House, proclaimed the disease was the reason she ran for o ce. After being sworn in to Congress, Pelosi was prompted by then-Speaker Jim Wright to address her peers. Surprised at the request, the 47-year-old mother of five gave a short and honest statement.