LGBTQ advocate Donna Red Wing passes away after battle with cancer
Longtime activist worked in various roles for LGBTQ organizations, and helped defeat an anti-gay ballot measure in 1992
Donna Red Wing, a civil rights activists and LGBTQ advocated, passed away on Monday afternoon at her home in Des Moines, Iowa, following an eight-month battle with cancer. She was 67.
Red Wing, who most recently served as the director of the Eychaner Foundation, an organization in Des Moines that promotes tolerance and nondiscrimination in Iowa. Prior to that, she served as the executive director of One Iowa from 2012 to 2016, where she focused on promoting pro-LGBTQ policies and blocking harmful anti-LGBTQ legislation. During her stint at One Iowa, she also organized the organization’s first summit for LGBTQ seniors.
She previously served as the executive director of Grassroots Leadership, chief of staff at Interfaith Alliance in Washington, D.C., and various leadership roles at the Gill Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, and GLAAD. She led the 1992 campaign to successfully defeat Oregon’s Ballot Measure 9, which would have prevented local governments from “promoting” homosexuality, and placed a gag on educators who expressed support for homosexuality by requiring schools to discourage behaviors that were “abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse.”
She also co-chaired the Obama for America 2008 LGBT Leadership Council. She was the first recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Faith & Freedom, an award of the Interfaith Alliance that is given to those who defend religious liberty and have improved society for the better.
In recognition of her achievements, the Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission named their annual Lifetime Achievement award after her, reports the Des Moines Register.
“Donna was a force to be reckoned with and will be greatly missed by individuals across the country. She called herself an activist and an agitator and prided herself in being called ‘the most dangerous woman’ by the Christian Coalition at one point,” Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, the executive director of One Iowa, said in a statement.
“Donna inspired so many, including myself. I was lucky enough to get to know her when she first came to Iowa and co-founded One Iowa’s LGBTQ Health and Wellness Conference. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Donna’s support and mentorship.”
The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” by Red Wing’s passing.
“She dedicated her life’s work to civil rights and her legacy will forever be woven into the fabric of the LGBTQ equality movement,” HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof said. “Many in the HRC family had the honor of working alongside Donna during her time as HRC’s National Field Director and across many states and campaigns in more recent years. For more than three decades, generations of advocates bore witness to Donna’s tenacity, deep commitment to equality and justice, and her many accomplishments, which inspired all those around her.”
Red Wing was hospitalized with lung cancer in August, and continued to fight the disease for the remaining months of her life. She is survived by her wife and partner of more than 30 years, Sumitra, their son, Julian, a grandson, and a twin brother, David.
A service celebrating her life is expected to be held at a later date.
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