A native of upstate New York, Cathy Connolly moved west in 1992 to teach at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. She’s a professor in the university’s School of Culture, Gender, and Social Justice, and in 2008 she became the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives. She’s still there, having been joined by other out legislators, and is minority floor leader, a Democrat in a heavily Republican state. Connolly, a lesbian, has made advocacy for LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups a hallmark of her career, in the legislature and elsewhere. She’s trying to get a hate-crimes bill passed in Wyoming, one of only three states with no hate-crimes law at all, let alone one that covers crimes based on anti-LGBTQ bias. That’s an uphill battle, but she remains dedicated to “keeping the needs of our communities front and center in all conversations and policy debates,” she says. Connolly, 64, is currently single, with a family that includes her son, Lucas, a comedian, and his photographer girlfriend, Jenni, plus two other chosen family members, Melanie and Aimee.
