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.

Miss Indigo Blue
According to Miss Indigo Blue, “It gets better—as soon as you realize you can twirl tassels!” Inspired by legendary performance artist Annie Sprinkle, the reigning Miss Exotic World 2011 donned her first pasties 16 years ago and quickly rose to the top of the neo-burlesque scene with her signature mix of the brainy and the bawdy. In homage to her heroines Carmen Miranda and Wonder Woman, Blue dons vintage-inspired costumes and executes gravity-defying twirling that must be seen to be believed. But she’s no fly-by-night floozy—in 2003, Blue founded the Academy of Burlesque (the subject of the acclaimed documentary, A Wink and a Smile) in Seattle and teaches burlesque classes to empower women through erotic performance. Along the way, the solo siren has performed in cities from Shanghai to Stockholm, earned a slew of trophies and founded the five-year-old BurlyCon Burlesque Educational Convention, where she remains Executive Director. “Being an out queer femme has given me a lot of perspective on the political value of performance art as well as the pure joy of entertainment that burlesque offers,” Blue says. “I love seeing the impact that my work has on others!”

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