Nancy Wohlforth is an American union leader and activist who has advocated for a variety of civil, labor, and LGBTQ causes throughout her career including single-payer healthcare, domestic partner worker benefits, and non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ workers. She was the first out member of the LGBTQ community to be elected to the AFL-CIO Executive Council in 2005.
Career
Early career with OPEIU Local 3
In 1980, Wohlforth helped found the Lesbian and Gay Labor Alliance. She was also active with Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 3 in San Francisco, California. Wohforth was a member of "A Growing Concern," a caucus within Local 3 seeking to reform the organization and draw attention to women's and gay issues after a 19 week-long strike at Blue Shield failed. In 1983, she was elected to be Local 3's Vice-President as a part of "A Growing Concern's" first slate of candidates. Wohlforth later took on Business Manager responsibilities for the union and was elected to be their Secretary-Treasurer in 1986. As an out lesbian, Wohlforth faced rumors that she was in relationships with straight colleagues; however, her reputation as an out lesbian gave her credibility with LGBTQ workers and helped her win over local shops including the Episcopal Community Service, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Information Store, and Hospitality House.
On June 24th, 1994, LGBT labor leaders met in New York for "Pride at Work, the Founding Conference of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender People in the Labor Movement" meeting. The meeting was partially in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Wohlforth, representing LGLA and OPEIU, co-chaired a group working to create an organization uniting the different LGBT, labor organizations into a single organization, Pride at Work. Nancy was elected to the position of co-president with Cal Noyce in 1996, and Pride at Work adopted a resolution in support of affiliation with the AFL-CIO as an official constituency group at the same conference in San Francisco. The went on to secure constituency status in 1997.
National leadership
In 2003, Wohlforth was elected as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Office and Professional Employees International Union making her the first open member of the LGBTQ community to hold an international union officer position. A couple years later, she was elected to the AFL-CIO Executive Council in 2005, making her the first open LGBTQ person elected to the Executive Council.
