This week’s #OUTLEADER needs no introduction, but that won’t stop us from celebrating the ceiling-shattering, history-making, and governor’s mansion-living (soon!) Maura Healey.
CORRECTION: The Honorable Maura Healey, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!
This past November, Governor Healey became the first elected female governor in Massachusetts and the nation’s first openly lesbian governor. That’s a lot of firsts. She ran on a proudly progressive platform, promising to invest in housing, public transportation, the clean energy economy, and job training with her running mate Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll. She also swore to protect access to safe and legal abortion, a welcome pledge after the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Her election returns the governor’s office to Democrats after eight years of Republican leadership.
No stranger to public office, Governor Healey has served as the state’s Attorney General since 2014, where she was the nation’s first openly gay attorney general (another first!). In this role, she expanded economic opportunity, tackled student loans, ensured fair treatment for workers, and so much more.
Beyond the promise of a better future, her victory brings to residents of Massachusetts, Governor Healey now has an even larger platform upon which she can model the power of living authentically to the entire country and yes, even the world. The Human Rights Campaign agreed when they said: “As one of our nation’s first lesbian governors, she will not only be a champion of pro-equality policies, but also a role model for the entire LGBTQ+ community.”
Leadership comes naturally to Governor Healey in and out of elected office. On the basketball court, she’s been leading teams to victory since her youth in New Hampshire. She captained her college basketball team and spent two years as a starting point guard on a professional basketball team in Austria. You can still find Maura playing hoops at her local park in Boston.
At Out Leadership we are deeply committed to the entire lifecycle of gay talent – from the basketball court to the Massachusetts State House. We believe that Governor Healey agrees. Especially when she says things like, “Kids need to understand and believe that they are loved, they are seen, and that they can be whoever they are.”
Gov. Healey spoke at Out Leadership’s US Summit 8 years ago. We celebrate the entire career of Governor Maura Healey and look forward to the example she will continue to set for LGBTQ+ people of all ages.