A Feminist in the House and Senate: An Interview with Dorothy Jensen Rupert

Abstract

In June 2007, Mary Churchill, a longtime JFSR board member, sat down with former Colorado state legislator Dorothy Jensen Rupert, who has worked tirelessly on issues that promote the rights and well-being of women and children, LGBT persons, the incarcerated, and the environment. Although she is most well-known for her fifteen years as a Colorado state representative and senator (1986-2001), Rupert taught school and worked as a counselor in Colorado public schools for thirty-five years. She has also served on numerous local boards and city committees in addition to her role as an officer on the national board of the Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) and her active involvement in the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). In 2005, Rupert was one of forty U.S. women nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. This interview with Rupert is part of an ongoing JFSR project to invite feminist pathmakers to reflect on their work and to give advice for future generations. In honor of Dorothy's eighty-fifth birthday in 2011, JFSR is pleased to publish this interview with a pathmaker in the area of religion and politics.