Matt Heinz

An out state representative talks about how he made his home in Arizona and his work in the state Legislature.

By Glenn Gullickson

State Rep. Matt Heinz has announced that he's running for Congress. The out lawmaker appears on the cover of the current edition of Echo and in an interview joins others from the community in sending a Centennial Valentine to Arizona.

Matt Heinz

Favorite Son

Rep. Matt Heinz is originally from Michigan, but he's making a life for himself in Arizona

It didn't take long for Michigan native Matt Heinz to know that Arizona was the place where he wanted to spend his life.

Heinz remembered the date — Dec. 30, 2002 — when he interviewed to complete his medical school residency at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson.

Flying in from the Midwest, Heinz said he got to Arizona around midnight, went to the hotel and crashed, then showed up the next day late for the interview.

But in a few hours, he was impressed by the hospital, as well as by the community it served.

"I liked the people, the climate, the environment, everything," Heinz said. "I knew this was where I was going to make my life. I really love being in Southern Arizona."

And while Heinz said he doesn't have plans to go elsewhere, in the days after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords resigned from Congress, his name was being floated as a candidate in the special election to replace her.

Asked about his political ambitions during an interview a couple of weeks before the legislative session started, Heinz said, "I kind of take it one day at a time."

Heinz, 34, has made his life in his adopted state in a big way in a short time. Besides becoming established as a doctor, he became a member of the state Legislature after winning election in 2008.

As the second session of the 50th Legislature meets in Arizona's centennial year, Heinz, a Democrat, is the only openly gay member of the state House of Representatives. There are three out state senators.

Besides an interest in current events, Heinz said he had no political experience before deciding to run for the state House the first time in an unsuccessful 2006 campaign. He said he hadn't even registered a party preference before he expressed his desire to run at party headquarters. "They said, ‘Who are you?'" he remembered.

Heinz said his interest in politics stemmed from his first-hand knowledge of the problems in health care, and being an Arizona resident for only a few years didn't deter him from seeking election to the Legislature.

"I felt like there really wasn't time to wait," he said. "There was such an urgency to have a voice like mine speaking out in the House."

For Heinz, all the big issues — like the environment, education and social issues — come back to health. "It connects to absolutely everything," he said. "Healthy kids learn better," he said. "Healthy parents are better parents."

Despite what he called "a lot of ups and downs" with the Legislature's Republican supermajority, Heinz said he has been able to work across the aisle. He noted that 14 of his bills and amendments got through last year in a session that he said got off track with immigration issues "even when people were screaming about jobs, health care and education."

This year, Heinz said he's working on 35 to 40 bills. But with the understanding that most won't get far, he said he's pushing hard on five or 10 proposals.

Heinz said that he continues to introduce LGBT equality bills, which continue to be ignored by a Legislature controlled by conservatives. But he said it's important that the bills be offered to make the statement that the state's policies toward the LGBT community are "still kind of not cool."

Heinz said he will be part of the effort to work with moderate Republicans and allies to gain support for a proposal to extend anti-bullying protections to LGBT students.

He's also watching for attempts from conservatives who he said could take steps to strengthen a law approved last year that makes it more difficult for gays and lesbians to adopt children.

"Studies don't bear out any of the garbage they're putting forward (about same-sex parents). It flies in the face of the evidence," Heinz said. "We need so many parents to adopt. A strong, loving family bond is what's most important."

Heinz said he is also interested in correcting an injustice that took away domestic partner benefits from straight state employees when a court decision reinstated the benefits for LGBT employees who cannot marry.

During the legislative session that runs from January to April, Heinz rents a room in Phoenix and spends Monday through Thursday at the Capitol on the days the House is in session.

During the weekends, he works nights at Tucson Medical Center, where as an acute care physician he's the doctor that patients see if they're admitted to the hospital through the emergency room. "They call me a ‘nocturnist,'" he said.

A favorite hiking spot for Heinz is Sabino Canyon near Tucson.

Despite a metropolitan population of about a million people, Heinz said Tucson maintains the "closeness and community bond" of a smaller place. Among his favorite places is Sabino Canyon, where said he's enjoyed hikes in the moonlight.

"It's a little different from Phoenix," Heinz said of his hometown. "You can drive five minutes and you're hiking somewhere deserty and wild. You almost have to take a number to go up Camelback."

Heinz said that among the things that got him involved in the community was his association with Wingspan, Tucson's LGBT community center. He remembered attending his first Wingspan fundraising dinner in 2004 and being impressed by the number of people in attendance, including "every gosh darn politician in creation." -E

More about Matt Heinz

Born June 6, 1977, in Midland, Mich.
Graduated from Michigan's Albion College with a degree in chemistry. Graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Granted a fellowship in vascular surgery at Harvard Medical School and spent a summer conducting stem cell research.
Ran for state House in 2006 and was defeated. Won election to the House from District 28 in 2008 and re-elected in 2010.
A member of the House Appropriations and Public Employees, Retirement and Entitlement Reform committees.