Highlighting Mary Bonauto, Esq. AWA ’08 on day twelve of our 20 Years of AWA series!

Mary has been called “the legal architect of the DOMA repeal,” and in 2012 was listed as one of 31 LGBT history icons by the organizers of LGBT History Month.

Following the February 23, 2011, Justice Department announcement that DOMA would no longer be defended in federal court, Mary directed GLAD’s challenges to DOMA’s constitutionality, leading to the first District Court and Court of Appeals victories against the law. She then coordinated the filing of amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs for the landmark United States v. Windsor Supreme Court case.

“Some people have said to me, ‘Aren’t you bored? Aren’t you tired?’ I’m not bored, and fatigue is nothing. Who cares? I’m in a position to be able to help make it possible for people to be freer, more secure.”

Read more about Mary’s career fighting for equal rights.