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.

Christine Martucci
Have you bought your ticket for the Tucci Train? Soulful award winning singer-songwriter Christine Martucci’s loyal fan base–the Tucci Train–will welcome you aboard. The New Jersey-based, nationally touring star picks up new devotees wherever she goes on the strength of her ardent songwriting and performances in the vein of Melissa Etheridge and Janis Joplin. Perhaps the raw emotion of her songs stems from her nine years in the U.S. Army and the pain of “serving in silence,” as she tells it. With her band of seasoned session musicians, Martucci–the product of a musical family–has independently released three albums: Mama Says (2003), I’m All In (and 2007) and last year’s Sin and Redemption. But it’s her high-energy concerts, and triumphant appearances at Pride festivals across the country, that have earned her spots opening for Gavin DeGraw, Michele Branch, Kansas, Patty Smyth and Scandal and other famous acts. Through her music, she hopes to send the message that “everyone is special; every one of us has a gift to give and help someone else with, and that’s why we are here. The LGBT community first must stick together and love one another, become stronger, and then pay it forward.”