Laurie is the daughter of a transgendered parent and grew up in Colorado. She served on the national board of directors for COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere). Her essay, “She’ll Always Be My Daddy,” was published in the Lambda Literary Award-winning book, Out of the Ordinary (St. Martin’s Press).

Laurie’s story appeared in Cosmopolitan, And Baby magazine and several newspapers nationwide. She appeared with her parent on The Montel Williams Show. Now living in Honolulu, Laurie was very instrumental in the passage of Civil Unions in 2011, allowing Hawai’i to become the eighth state to advance civil rights for all families. Laurie is active on the board of Pride Alliance Hawai’i and with Honolulu PFLAG and Equality Hawai’i. She is also working to reestablish an LGBT community center in Honolulu.

For more than 20 years, Laurie has been a speaker and writer on LGBT family issues nationally and internationally. Laurie co-founded a peer HIV education group at Hastings College, along with presenting at Southern Comfort, NGLTF’s Creating Change and several IFGE conferences. An active volunteer, she served with Central Nebraska AIDS Walk, South Central Nebraska PFLAG, and the Hastings College LGBT Alliance group. She also served with the Speaker’s Project to End Discrimination, Colorado AIDS Walk, Harmony Colorado and The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Now a freelance writer and editor, Laurie has won more than 65 state and national writing awards since 2002.

Updated 1/28/2012