Established in 1977 by members of the Orion gay men's consciousness raising group, the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA) was a political action committee supporting and contributing funds to political candidates in favor of human rights and, in particular, gay and lesbian rights. Although there were some administrative changes over the years, MECLA's executive structure consisted of two co-chairs, up to 16 members of the board of directors, and numerous ex-officio directors forming a board of governors. The directors were broken down by pairs into committees that controlled the day-to-day and long range functions of the business. As a show of their support of both gay and lesbian rights, the constituency of these groups was split evenly by males and females.

Initially focused on issues at the city and county level, MECLA's sphere of influence rapidly expanded to include political support of gay rights at the state and federal level. MECLA's first political victory was the passage of a Los Angeles city ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. At the state level, MECLA fought against California’s Proposition 6, known as the Briggs Initiative, defeating legislation aimed at keeping gay teachers out of the classroom. MECLA played a role in striking down Proposition 64, the LaRouche Initiative, classifying AIDS as a communicable disease. MECLA helped push Assembly Bill 1 through the California legislature to end statewide discrimination based on sexual orientation, although it was later vetoed by the governor.

Not all of MECLA’s work was viewed favorably by the gay population. MECLA’s directors actively opposed the presence of gay bath houses in Los Angeles and worked for their closure at the height of the 1980s AIDS epidemic.

MECLA was widely known for its fundraising events, the largest of which were the MECLA anniversary parties held every spring. Hollywood celebrities and politicians at every level would gather at these parties and dinners, raising six-figure bounties which were directly funneled to MECLA’s causes. One of the more successful events was a dinner with Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, the first female nominee for the Vice Presidency. With the goal of sensitizing politicians and the community at large to the issues affecting the gay community, MECLA also participated in community events, voter registration drivers, speaking engagements, and efforts to put gays in government appointed posts. MECLA ceased operations in April 1991.

Source: Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA) records, Coll2012.160, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California