Ryan Fecteau


Ryan Michael Fecteau is an American politician who serves as a member of the Maine House of Representatives and the current Assistant Majority Leader. He represents District 11 which comprises a portion of the city of Biddeford in Southern Maine.

Early life and education

Ryan Fectau was born in Biddeford, Maine to Shara LaBrecque, a senior caregiver, and Marc Fecteau, a small business owner in the building industry. The Fecteau family moved to Biddeford in 1964 from Packington, Quebec. His family made the move in order to earn a living in the Biddeford Textile Mills which comprised the economic engine of the Biddeford-Saco area at the time. Fecteau's grandparents, father, aunt, and mother all worked in the textile mills at various points in time. Fecteau served on the Board of Directors for the Biddeford Mills Museum. Fecteau is the oldest of two children in his family. He attended school in Saco, Maine until his family moved to Biddeford in 2005. He subsequently graduated from Biddeford High School in 2010 and the Catholic University of America in 2014.

Career

He has worked for a publishing company in Portland, Maine and the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, Maine. He currently operates a retail business in Ogunquit, Maine.
After his election, Fecteau became the third-youngest member of the legislature and the youngest openly gay state representative in the United States. Speaker Sara Gideon appointed Fecteau as House Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development in 2016. He currently serves on the Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement, and Business committee.
Fecteau supported Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Personal life

He is a practicing Catholic at his hometown parish in Biddeford.

Awards

Fecteau received the 2015 Youth Innovator of the Year award from The Trevor Project, a group focused on suicide prevention among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and queer youth, at their annual TrevorLIVE event at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on June 15, 2015. In his speech at the event, Fecteau cited his coming out experience as having been supported by The Trevor Project's social networking website "TrevorSpace" which is a safe, moderated forum for young LGBT and questioning persons.

Election history