President pro Tempore Emeritus Toni G. Atkins

Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins represents the 39th Senate District, which includes San Diego, Coronado, Del Mar, and Solana Beach, and parts of unincorporated Rancho Santa Fe. Atkins was born and raised in rural southwestern Virginia, the daughter of a miner and a seamstress. She was the first San Diegan and first lesbian Speaker of the Assembly, and the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to lead the California State Senate. She is the first person in 150 years, and the third person in California history, to lead both houses of the Legislature. From her eight-year tenure on the San Diego City Council to her years in the Legislature, Atkins has dedicated her career to serving as a champion for civil rights, gender equity, and for the LGBTQ+ community. Atkins has authored landmark legislation promoting equality for transgender Californians by ensuring they can have their true gender identification listed on driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and death certificates. She has led the charge to expand HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services, and secure funding for housing homeless LGBTQ youth. In partnership with the LGBTQ Legislative Caucus, Atkins has worked to remove gendered language from our state laws.  She authored the constitutional amendment that created Proposition 1, which, if passed by the voters, will enshrine the right to reproductive freedom in the State’s Constitution. Atkins lives in the South Park community of San Diego with her spouse, Jennifer, and their dogs, Joey and Mia.