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Happy Pride Month, everyone! There was some big movement today in the Massachusetts legislature finally on LGBTQ issues as the House voted to approve the first major overhaul to parental rights and family law in some 40 years, recognizing and protecting many additional family structures and updating antiquated language (including for non-LGBTQ families).
Recently, one of my closest friends and collaborators from the Newton City Council, former Councilor Holly Ryan, became the head of legislative lobbying for MassEquality. Holly is one of our state’s longest-tenured human rights campaigners from the trans community, and I’m really excited to see the legislature’s logjam beginning to clear on the LGBTQ community’s policy agenda, now that Holly is on the case as a lobbyist for the cause (supported by 60 organizations in coalition, of course).
The list of items needing attention from the legislature has grown long, including among others:
Comprehensive and inclusive sex education curriculum
Reform to LGBTQ parentage legal rights and family law (noted above)
Healthcare funding, insurance coverage updates, and further anti-discrimination healthcare protections on things like HIV care and gender-affirming care
Protecting gender care clinics
Halting attempted censorship of LGBTQ content in public libraries and schools
Safeguards for LGBTQ seniors in senior living and nursing home care so that they’re not forced back into the closet
LGBTQ issues are where I started my political legislative activism and they’re not just relevant for one month of the year. We need a representative who understands and prioritizes this work when advocacy groups are lobbying for it.
Pride in the community
Last week, it was an honor as always to attend Newton's annual Pride Flag Raising ceremony, this year marking the 20th anniversary of marriage equality in Massachusetts.
I remain incredibly proud of the campaign work I did in Delaware (where I attended college and then lived briefly before turning home to Newton) as part of the coalitions to pass equal marriage and trans rights bills through the legislature. I was a founding member and director of Delaware Right to Marry PAC, focusing on youth organizing in support of electing more pro-LGBTQ legislators, and eventually part of the multi-organization field campaign team.
I felt it was important as a Massachusetts native to do my part to spread our positive example on marriage equality to another state. I also had the conviction that continued injustice anywhere was a threat to justice and progress in the places that were leading the way.
It was an incredible learning experience for me, teaching me how to integrate grassroots organizing into legislative pressure campaigns effectively, to compel legislative leaders to prioritize these controversial bills faster and to persuade legislators who were still on the fence about how to vote. We started with less than majority support in the state population, but within a few years, we managed to win a campaign in their State House to recognize equal marriage rights and secure public accommodation protections for trans residents.
Those campaign years were also an endless study in how to be a good (and patient) listener in the face of sometimes quite shocking statements – in meetings, in doorstep conversations, or during phone-banking – in order to identify common ground with people who were reluctant to join the cause. And for all the challenging incidents, far more often we had great experiences in unexpected places. You can imagine the wide range of reactions we would get while gathering contact information at the Delaware State Fair at our marriage equality booth.
I am a better campaigner and elected official for having gone through nearly three years of work in the trenches on LGBTQ rights in Delaware.
Boston Pride Parade
Thanks so much to MassEquality for the open invitation to march with them in this year's Boston Pride Parade! We all had a ton of fun, and the weather was ideal.
I mentioned earlier in this newsletter about Holly Ryan’s important work this month on the parentage act and other LGBTQ policy priorities on behalf of MassEquality. I am honored to have her personal endorsement for State Representative, a position she encouraged me to think about running for during the course of our work on the City Council together.
“Bill brings new policy ideas and creative solutions to old problems and new challenges. He has worked collaboratively with colleagues like me, community advocates, and constituency groups. I know he’ll do the same at the State House for Newton, Brookline, and the Commonwealth.” – Holly Ryan, LGBTQ+ Activist and Former City Councilor
Safety during Pride month
As elected officials, it is our responsibility to talk about both the successes and the failures in our society. Although our corner of Massachusetts is comparatively safe for LGBTQ individuals, it is not free of the rising tide of hatred, discrimination, and violence (including the cultural forces that continue to result in self-harm by people struggling to thrive).
Pride in Newton this year will not be dimmed or diminished by the bomb threat this past weekend against the Drag Queen Story Hour event at the New Art Center. Thankfully the threat was fake, and many attending families refused to be intimidated. Threats of violence are the only tactic that reactionaries have left. They value controlling the expression of others more than they value living in a free and peaceful society.
All our safety depends on the safety of all. Speak up, stand up, and fight for everyone to be able to be freely proud of who they are and live their lives. When some among us are unsafe and living in fear, and this goes unchecked, eventually others will be too. A better future for everyone depends on us having each others’ backs.
Get involved and learn more, at events and debates
If you would like to request a lawn sign (within the 12th Middlesex District) or otherwise volunteer, please fill out this form.
I have two back yard campaign meet-and-greet events coming up this month, to give voters a chance to hear from me directly about my candidacy for State Representative:
Former Newton Democrats Chair Shawn Fitzgibbons & Kate Wissel - a meet & greet for Bill Humphrey: Sunday June 23, 5:30-7 PM at 300 Homer St (RSVP to Shawn directly)
Disability Advocacy at the State Level - a conversation with Bill Humphrey, hosted by Ima Jonsdottir, Nathan Persampieri, Katherine Read, and Robert Solomon: Tuesday June 25, 6:30-7:30 PM at 156 Warren St in Newton Centre (RSVP to Ima here)
If you would like to host one (or help get people to these events), get in touch with me and my Events Coordinator Liz Hiser will help you get started.
There are also three debates in the final weeks of June. The final one will be taped at the NewTV studios for the League of Women Voters and available later, but the first two are open to the public.
Candidate forum on environmental issues (multiple environmental advocacy organizations): 7 PM on Thursday June 20 at Newton City Hall in the War Memorial Auditorium
Newton & Brookline Democratic Committees candidate forum: 7 PM on Monday June 24 at the Newton Free Library Druker Auditorium
As always, if you are able to make a contribution to support my campaign it is very helpful and greatly appreciated!
Don’t forget to check out my Endorsements page, which I will be continuing to update. If you would like to add your name to the list of community endorsers – alongside the organizational endorsements of Mass Alliance, Progressive Newton, the Mass Nurses Association, the Newton Teachers Association, the Roofers Local 33, and the Teamsters Local 122 – just get in touch!
As of today, I have knocked more than 4,500 doors myself across nearly every precinct of the district – and volunteers have knocked hundreds more. I’ve had about 1,700 conversations now with voters.