Biography:
Kathleen Marie Kelly, known as Kate Kelly, is an American activist, human rights lawyer, and Mormon feminist who founded Ordain Women, an organization advocating for the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Kelly was excommunicated from the church in 2014. She is also a nationally known advocate for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and abortion access. Kelly came out as queer in 2019 and began a same-sex relationship with a Catholic writer pushing for similar goals within the Catholic Church.
Early Life and Education:
Kate Kelly was born in Arizona to Jim and Donna Kelly and grew up in Hood River, Oregon. Her mother is an attorney, and her father is a retired newspaper publisher and university administrator. Both of her parents were converts to the LDS Church, and her father served as the bishop of a local congregation, known as a ward.
Kelly attended Brigham Young University (BYU) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 2006. During her time at BYU, she organized a campus free speech protest involving nearly 100 students, which was in response to the firing of a university employee for criticizing student elections. Kelly also contributed as a writer for The Mormon Worker, a Mormon left-leaning publication inspired by the Catholic Worker newspaper founded by Dorothy Day.
In 2010, she founded Mormon May Day, a day for liberal or radical Mormons to engage in collective fasting and make their voices heard within Mormonism on progressive themes. Kelly went on to earn a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law at American University in 2012.
Career:
Throughout her legal career, Kate Kelly has worked for numerous human rights and advocacy organizations. She is currently the host of the podcast Ordinary Equality on the Wonder Media Network. In addition to her podcast, she is also the author of the book Ordinary Equality: The Fearless Women and Queer People Who Helped Shape the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Rights Amendment, released in 2022 by Gibbs Smith. Her book has garnered positive reviews from Oprah Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews.
Ordain Women:
In May 2013, Kate Kelly founded Ordain Women, an organization dedicated to advocating for the ordination of women to the priesthood in the LDS Church. However, local church leaders requested that she cease her campaign. Undeterred, Kelly organized a demonstration on Temple Square during the church’s April 2014 General Conference. Following her refusal to attend a disciplinary council, she was excommunicated in absentia in June 2014. Instead, she submitted a written defense through her representative Nadine Hansen, a fellow Mormon feminist attorney, along with hundreds of letters of support from her followers.