You might know Mary L. Trump from her best- selling book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, a tell-all memoir about her uncle, former President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Mary, a 56-year old lesbian and clinical psychologist, joined the Board of Directors at LPAC, a national political organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ women to public office.
Founded in 2012, LPAC is the only organization whose mission is to build the political power of LGBTQ women. Since its founding, the organization has raised over $6.3 million and endorsed more than 150 candidates at the federal, state, and local levels, including Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Representative Angie Craig (D- MN), Oregon Governor Kate Brown, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Mary joined LPAC’s Board of Directors in March 2021, after having participated in several virtual LPAC events and fundraisers before the 2020 election. When LPAC asked her to join the board, Mary had “no hesitation whatsoever,” as she firmly believes in LPAC’s mission.
“Representation is so incredibly important, and when you look at the numbers, the LGBTQ community is so desperately underrepresented and underserved,” says Mary. “But the more we get LGBTQ people elected to positions of power… the closer we get to equality.”
Currently, Mary is working on her second book, The Reckoning: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal. Due out this summer, The Reckoning examines the foundational traumas of this country – from the genocide of Native Americans to the enslavement of Black Americans – and how white supremacy has perpetuated those traumas. “My hope is to start a conversation and put the healing we need to do in its proper historical context,” says Mary.
In the meantime, Mary is excited to be a part of LPAC’s Board of Directors and is committed to using her platform to advance equality. Speaking about what lesbian representation in politics would have meant to her when she was a kid, Mary shares, “It’s unimaginable because having that would have been the diametric opposite of how things were in my world.”
Given the importance of having LGBTQ women in government, I asked Mary if she would ever consider running for office. “I have no idea because I think I need to sleep for a year first before I think of what I’m going to do next,” she jokes. “Once this book is finished, I’m just going to see how it goes.”
