Living in San Francisco, where many of our best-known politicians are gay, we often forget that just an hour away, being gay can have a pretty drastic effect on your political career. Slowly, that’s starting to change.

West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon has anxiously kept his sexual orientation a secret his entire political career.

He broke his silence on the subject Wednesday night at the annual State of the City dinner at West Sacramento City Hall.

“The pressure and the stigma and sometimes the all too casual bigotry in this town made it painfully clear when I first ran for office that I could either serve this community or I could be a gay man. But I could not be both,” Cabaldon said.

Maybe someday we’ll have a gay mayor.