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

100 Women We Love 2012

June 15, 2012
“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.

Marcy Rose
LGBT couples may not connect the achievement of equal rights with financial planning, but the two concepts are tightly linked. Discriminatory laws often give same-sex couples the mistaken notion that wealth management isn’t relevant to their lives, and correcting that myth is Marcy Rose’s goal. A financial advisor who teamed up with Joe Soranno, of the Rose/Soranno group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Rose has helped individual investors, non-profits and small businesses thrive for more than 13 years. Rose has also earned the coveted Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) designation. In addition, she and Soranno host the weekly LGBT Money Show on AM 1600 WWRL. “It’s not just a profession, it’s personal for me,” says Rose, who has two sons with her partner of 11 years, Lynne. “Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, my family experiences inequalities in our everyday lives,“ Rose explains. “For many years, my business partner and I have developed strategies to help our LGBT clients—individuals, couples and families—overcome the same obstacles we face. Being a member of the community myself, it is very rewarding being able to make a difference in people’s lives.”

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