Family Pride to open Boston office

The Family Pride Coalition will move much of its operations up from Washington, D.C. to the Bay State next month, opening a new office in Boston July 2. Family Pride Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler said one major reason for the move is that Massachusetts offers the best possible legal protections for their employees, particularly those with families. Washington, D.C., provides some legal protections through domestic partnerships and second-parent adoption, but nowhere near the level of protections available through same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. The laws in neighboring Virginia are overtly hostile to LGBT families, barring any legal recognition of same-sex relationships or second parent adoption.

"The reality is that in Washington if any of our employees wanted to have a child or adopt a child it limits where they can live," said Chrisler.

Another reason for the move is to send the message that when states take the step of creating a supportive legal environment for LGBT families, those states attract both LGBT workers and LGBT-friendly employers.
"Frankly we want to show that having these pro-family policies is good for the state," Chrisler explained.
She said Family Pride will maintain its Washington, D.C. office, but a large portion of its operations will move to Boston. Chrisler herself will relocate to the Boston area, but she said she will also spend a large portion of her time in D.C. She said the move to Boston will not change Family Pride's focus on working on LGBT family issues at the national level, as well as in local communities across the country.

Chrisler's family, including her spouse, former Massachusetts state Sen. Cheryl Jacques, and their two sons, will join her in relocating to the Boston area. Asked whether Jacques, who also served as executive director of the Human Rights Campaign in 2004 and a former state senator who ran for Congress in 2001, had any plans to run for office in Massachusetts, Chrisler answered, "Cheryl is going to continue to do what she has been doing as a voice in our national civil rights movement, as a professor, as a lawyer, and we're very excited to be back in our community that we know and love very well."