100 Women We Love 2015

We are thrilled to present this year’s 100 Women We Love—an incredibly diverse group of out entertainers, athletes, artists, activists, business leaders and elected officials.

MARY BONAUTO

“In the 10-plus years since same-sex couples started marrying in Massachusetts, thousands more have been able to marry across the United States, bringing them happiness and security-and harming no one,” Mary Bonauto remarked in a recent press release for National Marriage Challenge. “It is time to end the legal bans that single out same-sex couples for disrespect and instead allow them to make this unique promise to one another and provide greater protection and security for their families.” A powerful statement, to be sure, and Bonauto isn´t just paying lip service: At press time, the lawyer had finished arguing a Supreme Court case (Obergefell v. Hodges) that will decide whether banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The case is the culmination of a career spent fighting for gay couples, garnering marriage in Massachusetts and civil unions in Vermont, and helping to end the Defense of Marriage Act. Certainly, Bonauto, who has 13-year-old twins with wife Jennifer Wriggins, couldn´t have imagined such a journey when she was struggling to come to terms with her church´s view on homosexuality as a college student. She told the Boston Globe that a career in law gave her hope for a better future. “I could either just suffer from the system or change the system. I decided to opt on the change-the-system side.” -GH


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