Anne Stanback

Anne Stanback is an out lesbian LGBT rights activist and the founder and Executive Director of Love Makes a Family (LMF), which is a statewide non-profit advocacy organization working for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Connecticut. She was extremely influential in passing a statewide civil unions law in 2005. On October 18, 2006, Stanback was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame for her work as a social justice activist on behalf of the gay and lesbian community.

Anne Elizabeth Stanback was born in Salisbury, N.C., on December 15, 1958 to William and Betty Anne Stanback. Her mother was a journalist and teacher, while her father was a businessman. Though the family enjoyed an upper middle class lifestyle, both of Stanback’s parents were active in the Civil Rights Movement, giving Stanback and her two brothers the opportunity to learn the importance of activism at a young age. A natural leader, both in academics and on the athletic field, Stanback graduated from Salisbury High School with academic honors and community service awards. She went on to attend Davidson College, and after graduating in 1981, moved to Connecticut to attend the Yale Divinity School.

Her academic focus on liberation and feminist theologies strongly impacted Stanback’s activism. She had always seen community service as the crux of her faith and her time at Yale and her exploration of religion provided her with a strong foundation from which to approach social justice issues, like the fight for LGBT equality.

Stanback is a graduate of Davidson College (1981) and Yale Divinity School (1985).