Jewelle Gomez
Jewelle Gomez is a Black and Native American novelist and the author of The Gilda Stories and seven other books, having worked in public television, theatre and philanthropy. Gomez was raised by her great-grandmother, Grace, who was born on a reservation in Iowa to an Ioway father and African-American mother and later married a Wampanoag descendent of Massasoit. She was on the founding board of GLAAD and early boards of the Astrea Lesbian Foundation and the Open Meadows Foundation. With her partner Diane Sabin, Gomez was among the litigants suing California for the right to marry, and she continues writing about gay rights and working as Director of Grants and Community Initiatives for the Horizons Foundation.