Arline Isaacson is an American gay rights activist, political consultant and lobbyist who is the current co-chair of the Massachusetts GLBTQ Political Caucus (formerly the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus) and the Massachusetts Coalition to Ban

Conversion Therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

for Minors. She has been described to be one of the key figures in the legalization of

same-sex marriage in Massachusetts Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Massachusetts since May 17, 2004, as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling in '' Goodridge v. Department of Public Health'' that it was unconstitutional under the Co ...

. In 1989, Isaacson was an advocate for a civil rights bill in Massachusetts that prohibited the discrimination of a person on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodation. The bill was signed into law on November 15 of that year by Governor

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

. In 2003, she served as a lobbyist for

MassEquality MassEquality is a Boston-based organization that seeks to promote LGBT rights in the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It supported the implementation of ''Goodridge v. Department of Public Health'', the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's 200 ...

in the landmark ''

Goodridge v. Department of Public Health ''Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health'', 798 N.E.2d 941 ( Mass. 2003), is a landmark Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case in which the Court held that the Massachusetts Constitution requires the state to legally recognize same-sex marriag ...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously fu ...

legal case. In 2010, Isaacson opened her own political consultancy firm, Isaacson Political Consultants. Prior to this, she worked as a lobbyist for the Massachusetts Teachers Association, as Director of Governmental Services for the

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

, as President of TEAM (Tax Equity Alliance for MA), and as Director of Governmental Affairs for the City of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. In 2013, Isaacson endorsed

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democr ...

's bid to the mayorship of Boston. She has been listed as a part of Boston's "50 Most Powerful" residents in ''Boston'' magazine. Isaacson was awarded the Boston Women Communicators' Legacy Award in 2015, the

AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts Founded in 1983, AIDS Action Committee (AAC) of Massachusetts is a not-for-profit, community-based health organization whose mission is to stop the epidemic and related health inequities by eliminating new infections, maximizing healthier outcomes ...

's Heroes in Action Award in 2018 and The History Project's HistoryMaker Award in 2022. Isaacson has lived in

Beacon Hill, Boston Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is also the location of the Massachusetts State House. The term "Beacon Hill" is used locally as a metonym to refer to the state government or the legislature i ...

for over 30 years.

References

{{reflist Living people LGBTQ rights activists