Sue Hyde

Sue Hyde, a longtime LGBTQ activist and organizer, has worked at the National LGBTQ Task Force since 1986. At the Task Force, Sue led the fights to repeal sodomy laws, to rescind the military’s ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual servicemembers, and to pass non-discrimination laws in cities and states. In 1994, The Task Force appointed Sue to direct the Creating Change Conference, the LGBTQ movement’s annual skills-building and strategy forum. As director of the Creating Change conference, Hyde has trained thousands of LGBTQ activists. . Prior to her work at the Task Force, Sue worked as news editor at Gay Community News in Boston (1983 to 1985) and was a leader in the Gay and Lesbian Defense Committee, the community-based campaign to defend lesbian and gay families in Massachusetts; at the time state lawmakers prohibited the placement of foster children with lesbian and gay people. She served on the Boards of Directors of MassEquality from 2003 to 2013, becoming President of the MassEquality Education Foundation and playing key roles in the successful defense of same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts. In 2002, Sue received the prestigious Stonewall Award for a lifetime of dedication and service to the social movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer freedom, justice and equality. She is the author of Come Out and Win: Organizing Yourself, Your Community, and Your World (Beacon Press, 2007).