Likely Nominee a Strong Voice for Gays : Politics: San Francisco supervisor is expected to be named to HUD post. She has been a standard-bearer for the homosexual community and is praised for her fairness.

Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg, expected to soon be nominated as the highest-ranking openly homosexual person in the federal government, is regarded here as a savvy civil rights lawyer who has been a strong voice for gay and lesbian causes.

The selection of Achtenberg, 42, for a top job at the Department of Housing and Urban Development won wide praise from the gay community, which has long struggled for acceptance in mainstream politics.

White House sources said she could be nominated today for the post of assistant secretary at HUD for fair housing and equal opportunity. The FBI has conducted a background check and cleared her nomination, Administration officials confirmed. Achtenberg is declining all interviews until her appointment becomes official.

Elected in 1990 to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Achtenberg has been a standard-bearer for the local gay community and a highly visible advocate for AIDS patients. At the same time, she has earned a reputation for fairness and gained the respect of business leaders.

“She is an individual who will listen to all the sides and genuinely try to reach a fair conclusion,” said Lee Korins, chairman of the Pacific Stock Exchange. “I think she will bring that same kind of fairness to her position in Washington.”

As a supervisor, Achtenberg sponsored a resolution urging the city to pull $6 million in deposits out of the Bank of America to protest its donations to the Boy Scouts, which refuses to allow openly gay Scouts and Scoutmasters.

She also pushed for passage of a plan giving health benefits to the gay and lesbian partners of city employees.

Before joining the Board of Supervisors, Achtenberg served as executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Earlier, she was dean of the law school at the New College of California, a small alternative college in San Francisco.

She ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state Assembly in 1988 before winning her seat on the board. She and her partner, San Francisco Municipal Judge Mary Morgan, have a 7-year-old son.

“She is an outstanding American who is a role model for anyone who seeks to serve the public because of her extraordinary standards of excellence and her high principles,” former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos said. “She is an activist in pushing government to serve people.”

Achtenberg was an early supporter of President Clinton and served as one of his national campaign co-chairs. During the presidential campaign, Clinton pledged to open government to people of all races and sexual preferences.

“If the President proceeds to place lesbians and gay men in prominent and credible positions, it will be an extraordinary boon for the (gay) community,” said Supervisor Carole Migden, also a lesbian, who was elected to the board with Achtenberg. “We believe that he will and we are anxious to work with him toward that goal.”

For some members of the San Francisco gay community, however, the joy of seeing Achtenberg win a high post in the Clinton Administration was tempered by the loss of her vote on the Board of Supervisors.

“I think it’s a gigantic step forward for the gay community nationwide, but I’m concerned it’s going to have bad political ramifications locally,” gay political consultant Dick Pabich said. “It really is going to be hard to replace her.”

The gay and lesbian community, which until recently had three members on the board, will be left only with Migden. Mayor Frank Jordan, under pressure to serve several constituencies at the same time, has begun the search for a conservative lesbian Latina whom he can appoint to Achtenberg’s seat, an aide said.

Friends say Achtenberg will be in a position at HUD to pursue an agenda of fighting the prejudice that many people suffer because of their race, sex or sexual orientation.

“She will bring an insight into what discrimination feels like,” Agnos said. “It gives her an extra sensitivity for those who are vulnerable in our society, be they a child or an infirm elderly person, because she has felt the lash herself.”

Times staff writer David Lauter in Washington contributed to this story.