Brown, Lori Lipman, 1958-

Former Nevada State Senator Lori Lipman Brown works as a lawyer, educator, civil rights advocate, and secular activist in the United States. Born in New York on June 17, 1958, Brown graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and then received her Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law in 1983. After working as an attorney, Brown returned to UNLV and took courses to get her teaching license and went to work as a high school teacher.

In 1992, voters elected Brown to the Nevada State Senate. As a senator she supported the repeal of the Nevada sodomy statute, funding for social workers, mental health care, and education. Brown lost her reelection campaign to Kathy Augustine. Following the loss, Brown succesfully sued Augustine for defamation over Augustine's claims that Brown refused to pray or say the Pledge of Allegiance on the floor of the State Senate.

Following her service in the State Senate, Brown supported progressive causes in Nevada. She worked with Equal Rights Nevada to oppose Question 2 which defined marriage as only a union between a man and woman in 2000. Brown ran unsuccessfully for the Nevada Supreme Court in 2004. She served as the first director of the congressional lobby group the Secular Coalition for Americans from 2005 to 2009. She represented nonreligious Americans and lobbied on issues of religion and civil law.

Source:

“Lori Lipman Brown, Founding Director Emeritus (2005-2009).” Secular Coalition for America. Accessed July 21, 2014. http://secular.org/bios/Lori_Lipman_Brown.html