Who the F Is ... Attorney Abby Rubenfeld?

Who she is: a Nashville-based attorney focusing on family law, sexual orientation, and AIDS-related issues, and one of the lawyers handing a suit seeking recognition of same-sex marriages in Tennessee.

What she’s accomplished: Not all the stars in Nashville are at the Grand Ole Opry or the Bluebird Café. Abby Rubenfeld has a stellar record of advocating for the civil rights of LGBT people. She was the first legal director for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a post she held from 1983 to 1988, “perhaps the first job in this country that allowed a lawyer to work full-time on gay-rights issues,” the Princeton Alumni Weekly noted in a 1993 profile. Rubenfeld also achieved a notable first while at Princeton — she was the first woman to be elected an undergrad class president, something she achieved as a freshman. In addition, at five feet tall, she claims to be the shortest person ever to have lettered in basketball at Princeton.

She got her bachelor’s degree, with honors, from Princeton in 1975, then went to Boston University for law school. After receiving her law degree in 1979, she joined a small law firm in Nashville; although she was born in upstate New York, she had grown up largely in Florida, and she wanted to return to the South. The Lambda Legal job required her to live in New York City, but after she left Lambda she went back to Music City, where she now has her own practice, the Rubenfeld Law Office.

She has been involved in numerous civil rights cases, but her most high-profile one currently is Tanco v. Haslam, a suit demanding that Tennessee recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. A federal judge in Nashville ruled last month in favor of such recognition and said the state must immediately recognize the marriages of the three couples who brought the suit. An appeals court, however, last week put the judge’s order on hold while the case makes its way through the appeals process.

Rubenfeld, who is representing the couples along with other private attorneys and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, remained optimistic that the case will ultimately result in a pro-equality ruling. “Every single court that’s considered the merits since Windsor [the Supreme Court's Defense of Marriage Act decision] has ruled the same way,” she told Nashville’s Tennessean newspaper. And while this case is fairly narrow in scope, seeking recognition for out-of-state marriages, it lays the groundwork for broader ones. “It’s the first nail in the coffin of discriminating against same-sex married couples in Tennessee,” she told the AP regarding the judge’s favorable ruling in March.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Tennessee affiliate has recognized Rubenfeld’s activism with its Bill of Rights Award, and she has received the Dan Bradley Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association for her work toward LGBT equality. She is currently on the board of the ACLU of Tennessee and is a past member of the Human Rights Campaign’s board of directors.

Rubenfeld, who also teaches a course on sexual orientation and the law at Vanderbilt University’s law school, is the partner of Helia Rethmann, a language teacher, and has two daughters and a stepdaughter. Oh, and on the subject of her family: Rubenfeld happens to have a famous brother — Paul Reubens, best known for bringing his Pee-wee Herman character to stage, TV, and movies. But while he had a big adventure on film, his sister is undoubtedly having one fighting for equality in America’s courtrooms.

For more information: There’s a bio of Rubenfeld on her law firm’s site, and the Princeton Alumni Weekly profile is available online via Google Books.

Choice quote: “We won’t stop until there’s full marriage equality in Tennessee and across the country.” — Rubenfeld to the Nashville Tennessean in March