Who the F is Kate Kendell Anyway?

We fully recognize that SheWired is primarily a pop culture site with news and lifestyle added in for texture. While there’s no disputing the pop culture relevance of things like Pretty Little Liars, Orphan Black, and Miley’s latest twerk, we got to thinking recently that there are so many queer women – current and historical-- whose names may be slightly familiar but who aren't household names in the vein of say Ellen DeGeneres or Jane Lynch. We decided to feature those women who've done amazing things for LGBT people with a new spot. Here's the first intallment. 

Who the F Is … Kate Kendell Anyway?

Who she is: executive director, National Center for Lesbian Rights

What she’s accomplished: Kendell, brought up Mormon in Utah, was a corporate lawyer for a few years after getting her degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1988, then became the first staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah. She joined NCLR as legal director in 1994 and was named executive director in 1996. Under her leadership, NCLR — which advocates for all LGBT people, not just lesbians — has expanded greatly and had many successes, such as winning asylum cases for LGBT immigrants who faced extreme persecution in their home countries, convincing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in the state health care exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act, assuring young LGBT people of a safer environment in their schools, and obtaining survivors’ and other benefits for same-sex spouses. The organization also filed a friend of the court brief in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the case that led to the demise of Proposition 8 and the restoration of marriage equality in California after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June.

Choice quote: “Good ’effing riddance, you stigmatizing piece of crap.” — Kendell writing on her blog, Out for Justice, about the end of Prop. 8

Find out more about Kendell here.

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