Maura Healey has become the nation’s first out lesbian governor and the first elected female governor of Massachusetts. Healey beat Geoff Diehl, a former state representative who co-chaired former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign in Massachusetts. Healey’s resounding victory came after Republican Gov. Charlie Baker declined to seek a third term. Healey, the state’s attorney general since 2014 and a former civil rights attorney and professional basketball player, said after her victory: “Tonight, I want to say something to every little girl and every young LGBTQ person. I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever you want to be. And nothing but your own imagination should ever get in the way. I want you to know that tonight, we made history!” Healey joins two other Democrat LGBTQ governors—Oregon’s Kate Brown, who is bisexual, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first out gay man to be elected a governor in 2018. Annise Parker, president and CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund which works to elect LGBTQ candidates, said it’s often “an uphill battle” but “Massachusetts voters know Maura is a fighter and today helped her make U.S. political history... In the face of so much hate and intolerance sweeping our nation, her win is a sign—especially to LGBTQ kids in desperate need of hope—that LGBTQ people have a place in American society and can become respected public leaders.” The fund said Tina Kotek, who is running for governor in Oregon, would join Healey to become the second out lesbian governor if elected Tuesday.
