Camilla Taylor, Lambda Legal (2009)

40 UNDER 40: 2009
Tired of bad news? We are, too. So we asked this year's 40 Under 40 honorees to tell us something anything good. And they delivered, with tales of triumph over adversity, inspiration drawn from family and friends, good advice from mentors and lessons learned in this historic economic downturn. Read Camilla Taylors profile below.

In April, the Iowa Supreme Court handed down a unanimous ruling on Varnum v. Brien: Banning gay couples from marrying violates the state's constitution.
The ruling made Iowa the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. Since then, three more states have done so.
More important, "the conversation has moved forward nationally," says Camilla Taylor, lead counsel in Varnum v. Brien and a senior staff attorney in the Midwest office of Lambda Legal, a national legal organization working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men and people with AIDS.
A noteworthy example of "the conversation," as Ms. Taylor terms it: Theodore Olson, a conservative former U.S. solicitor general, is challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage; he hopes to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Taylor made the strategic decision to take the marriage-equality fight to Iowa. Iowa boasts a progressive civil rights history — it lifted the ban on interracial marriage in 1851 and desegregated schools in 1868. Through countless hours of research, Ms. Taylor discovered 540 Iowa state statutes that discriminate against unmarried couples. And it's a heartland state — previously, all same-sex marriage battles had been coastal affairs.
Perhaps most important, in Varnum v. Brien, she found six gay couples willing to go public with personal stories of discrimination, including being denied hospital visits and getting fired for attending a loved one's funeral. "The stories were compelling," Ms. Taylor says.
Her approach reminds legal scholars of the NAACP's state-by-state civil rights strategy.
"You don't just throw a dart at the map," says Geoffrey Stone, a University of Chicago law professor. "Lambda Legal has made an effort to . . . create a sense of momentum, to avoid the appearance that (same-sex marriage) is marginalized in left-leaning, blue states."
What's in it for Ms. Taylor? She is heterosexual, married and has one child with another on the way. For her, it's a question of fairness. "Marriage equality is the civil rights issue of my generation," she says.

Lisa Bertagnoli

SOMETHING GOOD: Ms. Taylor sees victory on the horizon. "In our lifetime, we will see equality in civil marriage."

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