CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS : Key Victories Hearten Gay Activists : Politics: First openly gay legislator is elected in California; Oregon and Idaho anti-rights initiatives lose. Leaders say homosexuality is less of a campaign issue.

Countering the conservative wave that washed over much of the nation, gays enjoyed several key victories this week, most notably the election of a lesbian to the California Legislature and the defeat of anti-gay rights initiatives in Oregon and Idaho.

In winning the 41st Assembly District seat, Democrat Sheila James Kuehl of Santa Monica became the first openly gay member of the California Legislature. “It’s a privilege to be the first of anything, and it’s scary as well,” said Kuehl, 53, a women’s rights lawyer and former actress best known for playing Zelda in the 1960s television series “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.”

“I will have the opportunity to add a perspective that’s never been added before,” she said.

Although a number of other gay state legislators were elected elsewhere in the country, the highest-profile gay candidates were not successful. In California, Democratic Acting Secretary of State Tony Miller appears to have lost his bid to become the first openly gay person elected to a statewide office. Likewise in New York, lesbian attorney general candidate Karen Burstein was defeated.

Still, gay-rights activists were heartened by the results. “It’s the first election I’ve ever been in where it was more hazardous to be an open Democrat than an open gay,” quipped William Waybourn of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a national group that supports gay political candidates. “We’ve done quite well.”

Of the 17 candidates backed by the fund, at least 12 were victors, Waybourn said. Among them were Teri Schwartz, elected to the Los Angeles Superior Court, and Bonnie Dumanis, who won a spot on the San Diego City Court.

With about 500,000 absentee votes yet to be counted, Miller was not ready to concede Wednesday. “It’s not over yet,” said Miller, who was trailing Republican Bill Jones by about 44,000 votes.

Contrary to the New York attorney general’s contest, in which Democrat Burstein’s homosexuality was made an issue by the opposition camp, Miller said his sexual orientation never became a factor in his race.

“Clearly the dynamics of this race . . . were driven by a Republican tide,” Miller said. “I think at least in California more and more people care less and less about personal matters such as orientation.”

Gay political activists attributed Kuehl’s success to her strength as a coalition candidate who could reach well beyond a gay base. Long active on women’s rights and domestic violence issues, Kuehl drew support from sources as diverse as the former “Dobie Gillis” cast to the legal world.

In Oregon, the conservative Oregon Citizens Alliance picked up more votes for its anti-gay Measure 13 than for a similar proposal in 1992, but the referendum was once again defeated, this time by a 52% majority.

Both the Oregon and Idaho initiatives would have barred state and local government from recognizing same-sex partnerships or passing laws protecting gays from discrimination. They would have further outlawed the sympathetic treatment of homosexuality in public schools and the expenditure of public money in ways implying the acceptance of homosexuality.

Idaho’s Proposition 1 lost by only a few thousand votes. Still, it was enough to delight opponents. “In this groundswell of conservative victories, it’s quite an accomplishment,” said No on 1 campaign manager Diane Sands.

Although they predict more anti-gay initiatives--the Oregon Citizens Alliance has already filed ballot language for the 1996 election--gay rights activists cited the election results as evidence that homosexuality is losing some of its steam as a hot political issue.

Not only did the referendums lose, but so did some candidates who attacked their rivals on gay issues. In the Virginia Senate race, for instance, Iran-Contra figure Oliver L. North had denounced Democratic incumbent Charles S. Robb’s support of gay rights.

“It may not go away as an issue,” said Ritch Colberg, president of Los Angeles’ gay Republican Log Cabin Club. “But it’s way down on the list of determinants that impacted how people voted.”