Linda Gottlieb

First she was a bookkeeper. Then the owner of an art gallery for 22 years. Then the owner of a brokerage firm on Wall Street. Linda Gottlieb never balked when it came to making daring career moves. After September 11th, she felt it was time to give back, she says. So Gottlieb initiated another switch, and this time, she made her own community the focus of her career. Gottlieb founded Women’s Pride in the Pines, a dance, silent auction, and dinner that raises money for LGBTQ causes. To date, she has amassed over $650,000 for beneficiaries such as The Center, SAGE, HMI, the Ali Forney Center, and Callen-Lorde. Her most recent event gave to the Family Equality Council in support of LGBTQ families. Why? “The fight is not over,” she says. “We now have gay marriage and we march in the gay parade in New York. Outside of New York, gays are still being beat up and killed and bullied. Children are being thrown out of their homes on the street when they tell their parents they are gay. We must remember this could all be taken away from us in a flash. We must keep fighting for our rights.” —SEJ