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.

Gloria Bigelow
Born in Pittsburgh, comedian Gloria Bigelow grew up in a “shockingly white” suburb where she skied, played tennis and went tanning. At 15 she moved to South Carolina, discovered she was black and cut out trips to Golden Tan. At Spelman College, she majored and minored in drama, and earned her MFA in acting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In five years as a comic, Bigelow has appeared in three TV comedy specials and performs at top comedy clubs like The Improv, Gotham Comedy Club, Stand Up NY and The Laugh Factory. Bigelow is a regular on the LGBT comedy circuit, including the Outlaugh Comedy Festival, Michigan Gay and Lesbian Comedyfest and Olivia cruises. She contributed to Here Come the Brides!: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage (Seal Press, 2012). Now in L.A., Bigelow is a crowd favorite and people respond with more than just laughter. “A young woman came up to me and said that I inspired her and she wanted to come out to her family. I was confused, thinking that she wanted to come out as a comic. (Turns out she wanted to come out as a lesbian.) That’s happened several times, and I know my telling jokes is about more than a punch line.”