William P. Fitzpatrick

Who is William P. Fitzpatrick?

William P. Fitzpatrick is an American politician from Rhode Island. A Democrat, he served from 1993 to 1997 in the Rhode Island Senate.

A computer programmer by trade, Fitzpatrick ran for the Rhode Island Senate from the 11th district in 1992, comprising parts of Cranston. He defeated seven-term incumbent David H. Sholes in the Democratic primary election held on September 15, 1992 and went on to win the general election. A resident of Edgewood, he served two terms, holding office from January 1993 until January 1997. He was not a candidate for re-election to a third term in November 1996 and was succeeded by Elizabeth H. Roberts, who went on to be elected Lieutenant Governor.

Fitzpatrick is gay; he confirmed his sexuality to the media just weeks after his election in November 1992. He was the first ever openly gay member of the Rhode Island Legislature. Since Fitzpatrick came out in 1992, seven additional openly gay legislators have held office, all but one serving in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Four of them hold office currently: Speaker Gordon D. Fox, Rep. Deb Ruggiero, Rep. Frank Ferri and Sen. Donna Nesselbush. The three former members are Mike Pisaturo, Nancy Hetherington and David Cicilline, who came out publicly during his time as a state representative and was subsequently elected to the mayoralty of Providence and to the U.S. House of Representatives.