Fran Hutchins, who helped lead the fight for marriage equality in Maine as the regional field director for Mainers United for Marriage, took on a new role as the executive director of the Equality Federation at the beginning of the year.
Hutchins, a 44-year-old queer woman, has been with the Equality Federation since 2012 and is its third executive director. She is the first mixed-race Asian American to lead the organization.
When she spoke to the Bay Area Reporter January 6, Hutchins was settling into her new role. She spoke with the paper just a few moments before the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol building by pro-Trump rioters.