Maura Healey Is a New Voice for Massachusetts

If we want a country with laws and policies that work for everyone, we need a government that hears everyone's voice. We need leaders that take everyone's perspective into account. We need our country's decision makers to be strong leaders who look like our country and craft the best policies that are the most inclusive.

EMILY's List and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund both work to make that vision a reality. EMILY's List works to elect Democratic women to office and Victory works to elect openly LGBT candidates. That work often brings us together and gives us the chance to support fantastic LGBT women. Women like our country's first openly gay senator and the first woman to represent Wisconsin in the United States Senate, Tammy Baldwin.

Now, we have the chance to help Massachusetts make history of its own with Maura Healey. Maura, who could be the first openly gay Attorney General in history, has the support of both of our organizations not because she would make history, but because she would make a real difference for the people of Massachusetts.

During her time working in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, Maura's victories were victories for Massachusetts families. Maura has never been afraid to stand up for Massachusetts families during her tenure at the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. She has not only worked to expand opportunities for LGBT community and women but she has worked to make Massachusetts a more inclusive state for everyone.

The nation's first successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act was led by Maura, who fought to make sure that our nation's laws didn't discriminate against Massachusetts couples. She also defended Massachusetts women's access to reproductive healthcare when she defended the Buffer Zone Law. And she's committed to bringing them back -- she knows no woman should be intimidated or harassed out of seeing her doctor.

Maura also took the fight to subprime lenders and recovered millions of dollars for Massachusetts homeowners. In the Attorney General's office she was also responsible for overseeing the HomeCorps program, a groundbreaking effort to protect families from unnecessary foreclosures and keep them in their homes.

Maura will protect and defend the rights of every resident of Massachusetts. Her voice will echo the concerns of Massachusetts women, and the concerns of the LGBT community. She will speak out on behalf of all those who experience discrimination, a voice for those who too long have gone unheard Maura has proven this time and time again. She did this by creating a Massachusetts that is an equitable place to live.

She worked to make sure that law enforcement were trained in hate crime prevention and led the Attorney General's efforts to combat issues of bullying in schools, so every child in Massachusetts could learn in a safe environment.

Even though Maura is running in a state like Massachusetts where the rights of women and the rights of the LGBT community have seen such great strides, she knows there is still work to do. And rights to protect -- Maura's proven herself; she will safeguard these hard-won protections and will remain vigilant as Massachusetts moves forward and faces new challenges.

It was recently written in the Boston Globe that "it is impossible not to like" her. We agree.

Stephanie Schriock is the President of EMILY's List , which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to political office.

Chuck Wolfe is the President and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund , which works to elect openly LGBT leaders.