100 Women We Love, Queer Women We Love, Wonder Women

100 Women We Love 2012

June 15, 2012 Destiny Dejesus

“Knowing that my election showed Charlotteans and the world that we are not bound by discrimination wakes me every morning with pride,” proclaims LaWana Mayfield, the City Council representative for District 3 in Charlotte, NC, and the city’s first openly gay elected official. Last November, she trounced her Republican opponent in the council election with 78 percent of the vote, replacing an eight-year incumbent. Now, continuously building on her 15 years of activism, her other leadership posts include the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee, Mecklenburg County Development Corp. Board, Smart Start Board and the Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund Board of Advisors. Prior to the election, Mayfield took an active role in LGBT activism as the Human Rights Campaign’s Diversity Co-Chair. “I believe that my role, along with growing the City of Charlotte, is to open the door for LGBTQ dialogue and to create pathways to service. I have this amazing opportunity to help direct the growth of the City of Charlotte through my vote,” Mayfield says. “I am right where I am supposed to be, and I love my job!”

Drum roll, please! We’re excited to present this year’s 100 Women We Love—our most diverse group of out entertainers, artists, athletes, activists, business principals and elected officials yet. Each of these women is a superstar in her own right. Their achievements and contributions shape our lives —and elevate us in the eyes of the world . They’re working to raise LGBT awareness, increase our visibility and quicken our progress toward a just society.

We are extremely proud to present the class of 2012. There are no rankings or numbers. They are all leaders.

Cherry Jones
An award-winning actor who’s equally at home on the Broadway stage or in a TV series, Cherry Jones recently starred as Dr. Judith Evans on NBC’s critically acclaimed police procedural/psychological drama Awake. With an Emmy (for her role as President Allison Taylor on the Fox series 24) and two Tonys (for The Heiress and Doubt) on her mantle, in addition to the admiration of casting directors everywhere, Jones is the go-to actor for strong, complex female authority figures. But that’s not to say she’s imperious in her dayto-day life. The Tennessee native resists Hollywood style notoriety in favor of dedication to her craft. Catch Jones in the upcoming documentary Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, currently in production and featuring fellow Great White Way veterans Glenn Close, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Elaine Stritch and Liza Minnelli. An out lesbian since the beginning of her professional career in 1980, Jones has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights ever since. She made theatre history in 1995 on the Tony Awards broadcast when she thanked her then-partner in her acceptance speech.