Born: October 19, 1945
Occupation: Attorney, Administrator, Activist
Known for: Legal work championing women's rights; leadership of NOW
About Patricia Ireland
Patricia Ireland is an attorney and feminist who served as the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1991-2001. She has been active with the nationwide group and the Florida chapter of NOW. She is known for her commitment to abortion rights and equality for lesbian women, and for using the legal system to advocate for women's rights.
Background
Ireland was born in 1945 in Oak Park, Illinois. Her family moved to Valparaiso, Indiana following the death of her older sister in a horseback riding accident. Ireland later said her mother lost faith in the Catholic church after the tragic death, which contributed to what she called a liberal 1950s household, although she was taught about the Christian faith and attended a Presbyterian church during childhood.
After beginning college at DePauw, Ireland transferred to the University of Tennessee, where she received her B.A. in German in 1966. During her early college years, she traveled to Japan to obtain a legal abortion. Ireland married her high-school sweetheart before transferring to Tennessee, but the marriage lasted only a few years. She married her second husband, artist James Humble, in 1968.
Florida, Pan-Am and the Law
Bored with the German teaching career she had started, Ireland became a flight attendant. She moved to Miami when she started a job with Pan-American World Airways (Pan-Am), where she worked from 1967-1975.
Ireland began advocating for women's rights when her husband needed dental work. She discovered that her Pan-Am employee benefits did not cover his costs, although male employees' benefits covered their female spouses' dental care. The local chapter of NOW advised her to pursue an Equal Employment Opportunity Claim against Pan-Am. She fought the inequality and won her case; the U.S. Department of Labor ruled in her favor and Pan-Am's insurance policy was amended.
The fight against employment discrimination galvanized Ireland and she became interested in using the law to work toward equality. She began law school at Florida State University, then transferred to and received her J.D. from the University of Miami. She was dismayed to find that people treated her differently depending on whether she told them she was a flight attendant or a law student. This further piqued her interest in women's rights, expectations of women, and the value society placed on "women's roles."
As a lawyer, Ireland continued working with NOW, serving as legal counsel to the Dade County chapter and taking pro bono cases. She also became a partner at a large Miami law firm. During the 1980s, she was chairman of Florida NOW's lesbian rights task force and she managed Eleanor Smeal's successful campaign for president of the national organization. In 1987, Ireland began serving as a national NOW executive vice-president and moved from Miami to Washington D.C.
President of NOW
In 1991, Ireland became president of NOW. She led the national organization from 1991-2001, which makes her the longest serving president. During her tenure, she accomplished several campaigns focusing on NOW's priority issues.
Ireland developed Project Stand Up for Women, which trained thousands of activists in clinic defense. Trained defenders safeguard access to women's health clinics by peacefully escorting patients or staff. Ireland also used litigation as a tool in defending clinics. She worked to turn the NOW v. Scheidler lawsuit, which accused abortion protesters of conspiring to deny women their reproductive rights, into a class-action suit on behalf of all women seeking reproductive health services.
Another project was electing more women to public office. She initiated the Elect Women For a Change campaign in 1992 and contributed to the oft-heard early 1990s idea that it was the "Year of the Woman."
She was a major organizer of both the 1992 Global Feminist Conference that brought together women from 45 countries and the 1993 March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian, and Bi Civil Rights.
Ireland published an autobiography in 1996 called What Women Want.
Some critics of her tenure as NOW president were unhappy with the focus on lesbian rights. They argued that the majority of women cannot relate to the desire for an increase in lesbian visibility in the feminist movement. Ireland had kept her personal life private prior to accepting the leadership of NOW. She admitted in a 1991 issue of The Advocate that she was bisexual and had a female partner, Pat Silverthorn, with whom she lived in Washington D.C. while she remained married to her husband. She has stated that both relationships are important to her and called both partners her family.
After NOW
In the spring of 2003, the YWCA of the U.S. selected Ireland to be its new chief executive. Ireland viewed taking the job as a return to the women's movement. She spoke about the YWCA's history of work on behalf of such causes as suffrage, racial equality, and sex education. After six months, she was fired. It was rumored that Ireland had sparked protests from Christian women who opposed her views on lesbian rights and abortion rights.
Ireland managed the brief 2004 U.S. presidential campaign of Carol Moseley Braun. In 2005, Ireland returned to Florida after 14 years of living in Washington D.C. She continues to practice law, with an emphasis on labor and employment discrimination and civil rights.
She often comments on women's issues. In 2009, she appeared on Fox with Bill O'Reilly to discuss the murder in Kansas of Dr. George Tiller, who had performed late-term abortions. Ireland called it "outrageous" of O'Reilly to refer to the slain doctor as Dr. Killer.
Also in 2009, Ireland supported Terry O'Neill in her successful bid for election as president of NOW. Ireland wrote that she believed in O'Neill's promise to restore NOW to prominence.