Christine Chavez

Civil rights activist Christine Chavez currently serves as the District Director for State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero.

Chavez is the former Political Director of United Farm Workers, the union which her grandfather Cesar Chavez co-founded. Latina Magazine recently named her as one of their top Latinas of 2004 for her longtime involvement with civil rights issues — in particular her recent work to give same sex couples the right to marry under the law. In 2005, along with 200 other organizations, the UFW took a stand to support Assembly Bill (AB) 849, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act.

As part of Chavez's longstanding commitment to LGBT rights, she took a sabbatical from the UFW in 2005 to work with Equality California, the National Latona/o Coalition for Justice, National Freedom to Marry, GLAAD's Regional and People of Color Programs, and other LGBT groups to educate local communities about the importance of LGBT rights and marriage equality in California. She also advocated for marriage equality in 2008 by speaking at a "No on 8" rally in Fresno, California.