Women’s History Month 2026
Women’s History Month makes intentional space for us to reflect on the names, the labor, and the courage that built the institutions many of us now inhabit—often without fully acknowledging who stood in the earliest light.
At Stonewall Columbus, the story of our evolution from a grassroots activist collective to a community-centered institution is rooted in the leadership and stewardship of women whose vision and care carried the organization through complex seasons of change and growth.
Long before community centers were commonplace, before multi-day Pride Festivals, and before the language of institutional sustainability was part of our civic vocabulary, women were leading this organization—not only keeping it alive, but pushing it forward. At Stonewall leadership did not begin with paid staff or formal offices. It began with volunteers. With board members, some, women who believed the LGBTQ+ community in Central Ohio deserved structure, advocacy, and space.
Before there was a professional executive director, there were women chairing meetings in borrowed rooms. Before there were accounting firms, there were women balancing checkbooks by hand. Before Pride drew hundreds of thousands, there were women organizing with clipboards and conviction.
Well known Columbus lawyer Rhonda Rivera served as board President for then Stonewall Union from 1983 to 1984—right before the hiring of the organization’s first executive leader. Carol Cohan, in the late 1980s, served as the first female identified executive director when community advocacy required both grit and moral clarity. Or Phyllis Gorman who served as Executive Director in the early 1990s, helping shape Stonewall’s emerging community presence at a time when organizational infrastructure was forming. There’s long time local-business owner Chris Cozad who served on the board of Stonewall Union (now Stonewall Columbus) for 13 years, holding the position of President for 3 terms and her partner Gloria McCauley (d. 2022) who worked at the organization for 6 years, co-founder of BRAVO with it’s roots at Stonewall Columbus, serving as interim executive leader in 1994. In 1997 at the age of 51, Linda Schuller (d. 2022) and her wife, Karla Rothan were asked to chair the Stonewall Columbus Pride Parade—Linda became a volunteer for Stonewall Columbus where she chaired the Columbus Pride Parade for 22 years. Linda also created the Trailblazer Program at Stonewall which provides social, educational and health-related opportunities and support for older LGBTQ adults.
In the 2000s and 2010s, women continued to steward this work in transformative ways. Kate Anderson led as Executive Director in the early 2000s, guiding the organization through a time of expanding civic engagement and program development. Karla Rothan, one of our longest-serving executive leaders, joined in 2006 as interim executive director and held the organization through 12 years of significant community evolution and a movement toward a long-term community center vision. Letha Pugh among the first Black female Board members served six years, and also served as Secretary of the Board. Co-Founder of the Black Out and Proud organization. Deb Steele and AJ Casey provided steady executive leadership through times of transition, rebound, and organizational affirmation.
These are just some of the women whom—by their presence, expertise, and determination—helped build what today is Stonewall Columbus and the Stonewall Columbus Community Center, a space that houses archival records, year-round programming, wellness services, community connection, and a home for Pride across Central Ohio.
Their leadership came during periods when LGBTQ+ advocacy was not an obvious path, especially for women whose intersectional experiences also carried layers of marginalization. They were leading before Pride was hundreds of thousands of people strong. They led when visibility itself carried risk.
Their courage made it possible for later leaders—including those in today’s staff team—to imagine Stonewall not just as a gathering place, but as a hub of sustainability, accountability, and institutional maturity.
Today’s moment—of Pride 365 programming, of community-centered growth, of heightened civic engagement—rests on the foundation they helped lay.
We uplift these names not as historical footnotes, but as foundational leaders whose labor still speaks in the systems, spaces, and community relationships that define Stonewall Columbus today.
Their work reminds us that leadership: Is not singular—it is collaborative. Is not momentary—it is sustained. Is not personal—it is structural.
As we acknowledge the women who once led—we also affirm the women, femmes, trans women, and gender-expansive leaders who continue to steward this work today.
