James Larson

James Paul Larson (May 18, 1971 – December 10, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. Senator from the Midwest from 2011 until his death in 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Larson previously served as the U.S. Representative from District 4 from 2005 to 2011, serving as the 55th Speaker of the House of Representatives for the final three years of his service in that chamber. Larson is the first openly gay man to serve in either chamber of Congress, as well as the first openly gay man to serve as House speaker.

After feeling symptoms for many months, Larson was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He died from it in his Chicago home on February 10, 2014.