Prominent local lesbians are among those backing a new PAC that aims to give political voice to queer women.
Billing itself as the first of its kind Political Action Committee, LPAC launched June 11 with the support of Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, Chicago area native Jane Lynch and Chicagoan Sarah Schmidt, whose family owns U.S. Venture. Both Ricketts and Schmidt sit on LPAC's advisory board.
The group said they strive to elect candidates who support LGBT people, reproductive freedom and social justice causes.
"This year we have seen politicians repeatedly support policies that harm women," said Lynch in a statement. "It is important to me to elect leaders who care about issues that impact women and their families."
Other big-name backers of the PAC include Billie Jean King and Urvashi Vaid, former executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Schmidt, who is serving as LPAC's chair and treasurer, said the group started the PAC because they had been "shocked" by politics over the past year.
"Lesbians could no longer stand by and witness continued attacks on reproductive freedoms, marriage equality, and be immersed in a political sphere where women are not given a meaningful voice in politics," she said in a statement.
LPAC lists a dearth of reproductive healthcare, lack marriage rights for LGBT people, a U.S. House vote to defund Planned Parenthood, opposition in the House to the Violence Against Women Act, a Senate vote against equal pay legislation and the exclusion of women from hearings on birth control as motivations for starting the PAC.
According to the group's website, the PAC is a bipartisan effort.
LPAC Advisory Board
Sarah Schmidt Chicago, IL Chair and treasurer of LPAC and founder and principal of Sarah Schmidt Consulting, LLC. Schmidt is also actively involved in her family's third generation business, U.S. Venture, Inc., where she serves on the Board of Directors. From January of 2005 until November of 2011 she served as Family President, responsible for the leadership of the shareholder group. Since 2005, Schmidt has also served as the Director of the U.S. Venture Open, a charitable golf outing dedicated to fighting poverty in Northeast Wisconsin.
Valerie Berlin New York, NY Co-Founder and Principal at BerlinRosen Public Affairs, a strategic communications and political consulting firm in New York City and Washington, D.C that works with leading issue advocacy, corporate, labor, non-profit and electoral clients at the local, state and federal level.
Emily Giske New York, NY A government affairs specialist for Bolton-St. Johns, LLC. Giske has extensive knowledge in Albany and New York City and has lobbied for corporations, financial institutions, not-for-profit entities, and local municipalities. Giske was one of the lead lobbyists instrumental in helping New York pass the 2011 Marriage Equality Act.
Laura Ricketts Chicago, IL Director and part owner of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball Club as well as Chairman of the Board of Chicago Cubs Charities. Ricketts is the first openly gay woman to own an MLB franchise and is co-chair of the DNC's LGBT Leadership Council and the National Leadership Counsel for Lambda Legal.
Alix Ritchie Fort Lauderdale, FL Media strategy consultant and former founder, owner, and publisher of the Provincetown Banner, a community newspaper for Cape Cod, and recipient of the New England Press Association Newspaper of the Year Award. Ritchie is also a self-described agitator, political activist, and occasional polemicist.
Margaret Traub Brooklyn, NY President & CEO of Adesso a company that designs, manufactures, and sells contemporary home décor. Traub and her partner, Phyllis Dicker, sponsor an annual scholarship that awards funds to worthy lesbian college and graduate students. They also sponsor a fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School for students to research gay issues and public policy.
Urvashi Vaid New York, NY - Director of the Engaging Tradition Project at the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School. Vaid is an attorney, writer and longtime leader in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and social justice movements. She is former executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and has been a leader for over a decade in several philanthropic organizations.
Donna Victoria Washington, DC A pollster with over 20 years of experience, Victoria is the founder of Victoria Research & Consulting and has worked on a wide variety of non-discrimination, marriage equality, and political messaging projects for the LGBT community.
LPAC is a political action committee dedicated to one goal: influencing elections by giving lesbians a meaningful seat at the political table. www.teamlpac.com .