First lesbian US governor slams ‘conman’ Trump and says Harris will ‘fight for all Americans’

Maura Healey, the first openly lesbian US governor, has endorsed Kamala Harris at the DNC.

Shortly before Harris accepted the party’s nomination for president, at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday (22 August), Healey, who has been governor of Massachusetts since last year, took to the stage to share a story about the vice-president and her suitability for the White House.

The story involved Harris asking a little girl in Massachusetts what she liked about basketball camp. “The little girl said: ‘Anything but defence’. Kamala put her hand on her shoulder and replied, ‘Me too, I love offence’.

“That’s what it means to be ‘for the people’. Kamala Harris fights for all Americans. She stays on offence, and she wins.”

Healey said Harris has stood up to abusers and bullies her whole life, adding that she “can’t wait” to see the vice-president dominate the debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump next month.

“We face a stark choice in this election: a felon and conman, or a dedicated prosecutor.

“The contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is clear. He obstructs justice, she upholds it. He swindles people, she serves them. He thinks he’s above the law, she actually understands the law,” Healey continued, branding Trump a “felon” and a “conman”.

When was Maura Healey elected?

Healey was elected in 2022, becoming the first female governor of the Codfish State and the first openly lesbian woman to hold that office in the country.

But that wasn’t the first time Healey made history. In 2014, she was the first openly lesbian woman elected as attorney general of a US state.

Who is Maura Healey’s partner?

Healey announced her relationship with fellow lawyer Joanna Lydgate in 2023, shortly before being inaugurated. The couple have been together for more than three years and friends for much longer.

Lydgate had been Healey’s chief deputy in the attorney general’s office, although the pair said their relationship did not begin until after Lydgate left her role to co-found a voting rights advocacy organisation.

The couple live together in Boston, with the governor previously telling The Boston Globe that Lydgate is someone she loves “very much”, and that she has “great respect and admiration” for her partner.

“Working together in the office, we were always really close. After we stopped working together, we realised this is something more… than just being best friends, and it has been a really beautiful, unexpected journey,” Healey added.

Are there other LGBTQ+ politicians in the US?

While Healey is the first openly lesbian governor, there are a number of other LGBTQ+ politicians across the country. Across eight states, and one US territory, 12 openly queer people have been elected to public office.

There are currently two other LGBTQ+ governors: Jared Polis in Colorado, who is gay, and Oregon’s Tina Kotek, who identifies as a lesbian.

Kote’s predecessor, Kate Brown, is bisexual.

Senators Tammy Baldwin, from Wisconsin, and Kyrsten Sinema, in Arizona, identify as lesbian and bisexual respectively. Other LGBTQ+ politicians include Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel, Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes and the lieutenant governor of Guam, Josh Tenorio.

The best-known is probably transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.

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