LAURA COMPTON is a lifelong Mormon whose “straight ally” seeds were planted as she grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area observing the effects of Harvey Milk and then the outbreak of AIDS and its tragic devastation. Those seeds were nurtured while working at her mother’s law offices as Nadine provided estate plans for AIDS patients who otherwise would have been unable to care for one another and provide for families due to their lack of civil union and marriage benefits. As Laura learned that the LDS church was using the same tactics against gay marriage that they’d used against the ERA, and as friends’ lives were shortened and families ripped apart under the guise of “protecting The Family,” her quiet support of LGBT rights blossomed and found its voice. She helped to create Mormons for Marriage the summer of 2008 when LDS members were asked to do all they could to support Prop 8. She continues to track church involvement in same-sex marriage politics and regularly speaks up for rationality, critical thinking, love and communication from all sides of marriage equality issues.
Laura’s other passions include Mormon history, feminism and social justice. When she’s not advocating for those things, she’s likely to be found volunteering at her sons’ schools, reading a good book or hiking in the redwoods.