Jacques vows to remain on front line for gay rights

Cheryl Jacques isn't sure what comes next.

After a tenure as a state senator representing Natick, Needham, Wayland, Wellesley, and other western suburbs, she set her sights on Washington, only to be unceremoniously nudged from the helm of the nation's largest gay group late last year.

Jacques is still in Washington, and just moved from a Maryland suburb to the District of Columbia. But she said she's not sure if she'll stay there, move back to her native Massachusetts, or be drawn in yet another direction.

In the meantime, she will continue living in Washington with Jennifer Chrisler, whom she married in Boston last summer, and their two children.

"I'm having some fascinating conversations with folks all over the country," Jacques said.

She said she "wouldn't rule out" making another run for public office. But if she chooses to run for the state Senate again, she won't be able to go after her old seat, now held by Republican and a foe of gay marriage, Scott Brown. Jacques's current Massachusetts residence, in Carlisle, puts her in the Senate district represented by fellow Democrat Susan Fargo.

Whatever her next move, Jacques said she intends to "maintain a strong voice in the national debate on gay civil rights."

Jacques publicly acknowledged that she is gay five years ago in a commentary to The Boston Globe advocating funding for the Massachusetts Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian Students. She later took a leading legislative role in other gay-related issues, but left the state Senate early last year to become executive director of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington.

That was at the height of efforts to pass an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The human rights group battled the amendment from afar, but Jacques said she hopes to be more active in the fight this year. The amendment, which passed in the Legislature's special constitutional convention last spring, must pass again this year in order to advance to the ballot for voter consideration.

Jacques said she doesn't see her involvement in fighting for gay civil rights as any different from campaigns she waged before she acknowledged being gay.

"I've been an advocate my whole life. I was a prosecutor right out of law school: I fought for crime victims, seniors, equal rights for gay people. My next step will allow me to continue to do good things for the public, including gay people."

Doing "good things" isn't always straightforward.

Some in the gay-rights movement see a positive side to President Bush's efforts to privatize Social Security because it would enable them to receive deceased partners' savings. Under the current Social Security system, a gay partner is ineligible for the benefits because the federal government does not recognize same-sex relationships, whether they are marriages or domestic partnerships.

But Jacques opposes the privatization plan. "I think gay Americans should be included in Social Security protections for their spouses, just like any other committed loving couple can be protected. But privatization is wrong for America."

Jacques predicted that privatizing Social Security would end up reducing benefits for seniors or raising the age at which they may start receiving benefits.

"I personally don't want to make a decision driven through self-interest," Jacques said. "While privatization may work for gay families, it will hurt a whole host of Americans, including seniors."

At the same time, Jacques is not willing to postpone or delay the drive for equal rights for gays. "Some voices in our community say, 'Maybe you should have this but not this, maybe domestic partnership but not full marriage, maybe protection in the workplace but not in Social Security.' I don't think we should ever take those deals.

"I'm not saying, 'Don't do things incrementally.' But I don't think we should trade. I don't think we should agree to a state constitutional amendment in return for something less, or that we should enshrine into the Constitution something that makes us second-class citizens.

"If somebody proposes a civil union bill or a domestic partnership bill -- terrific. Let's work to pass it, but don't stop there."

Jacques won't say whether her work against the constitutional amendment in Massachusetts will bring her back to the state on a more-permanent basis. In the meantime, she will continue living in Washington.

"Massachusetts is my home," said Jacques, who turns 43 today. "I have a special place in my heart for Massachusetts."