Liz Malia

Elizabeth A. "Liz" Malia (born September 30, 1949) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Democrat, she has served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since March 1998. She represents the Eleventh Suffolk district, which includes parts of the Boston neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Roxbury and Dorchester.

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In the legislature, she serves as Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Malia graduated from Boston College in 1971 with a BA in Education and English, returning in 1989 to complete the graduate certificate program at the Center for Women in Politics and Government. She worked in human services, healthcare, community organizing and labor advocacy before becoming chief of staff to state representative John E. McDonough in 1990.

In late 1997, McDonough retired mid-term to take up an associate professorship at Brandeis University and Malia jumped into the race to succeed him. She won the special preliminary election easily and went on to win 67% of the special general election vote. She was re-elected in November 1998 and has won biennial re-election ever since.

Malia, a lesbian, co-founded the Bay State Gay and Lesbian Democrats in the mid-1980s. She is one of five openly LGBT members of the Massachusetts General Court, alongside Sarah Peake (D–Provincetown), Kate Hogan (D–Stow), and Denise Andrews (D–Orange), as well as Senator Stan Rosenberg (D–Amherst).