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.

Wanda Sykes
Emmy-Award winning Wanda Sykes is celebrated as one of the most uproarious stand-up comics and ranks among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America. Her brilliant writing, snarky wit and unforgettable voice have steered her career in many directions. Both personally and professionally, it’s been an eventful year for Sykes. Last June, she was honored with the first-ever Hope of Los Angeles Award, as part of the city’s LGBT Heritage Month celebration. A few months later, Sykes revealed that she’d been diagnosed with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), a noninvasive breast cancer; as a proactive measure, she opted for a bilateral mastectomy. After recuperating, Sykes returned to her stand-up tour and the talk show circuit, appearing on NBC’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She also explored her family history on “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,” a new PBS series. Currently, her 2012 tour is in full swing with a packed calendar of coast-to-coast shows. This summer, catch Sykes in the season premiere of Comedy Central’s animated sitcom Futurama, as the voice of Bev, a racy robot soda machine; she also voices Granny in Ice Age: Continental Drift, which hits theaters in July.

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