Tom Stoddard

Tom Stoddard was one of America's foremost gay civil rights advocates. Between 1986 and 1992, Stoddard was the Executive Director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Under Stoddard's leadership, Lambda grew from a staff of six to 22 people to become the leading legal advocate for GLBT civil rights.

In 1986, Stoddard wrote the bill that protects New York City's GLBT community from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Stoddard was one of the movement's most articulate national spokespersons.

In 1993, Stoddard was part of the first meeting of gay activists at The White House. From 1993 to 1998, Stoddard served as Director of the Campaign for Military Service.

Stoddard taught a course on gay and lesbian civil rights at New York University's School of Law. It was the first such course at a United States law school.

In 1995, he was the grand marshal in the New York City Pride Parade. Stoddard participated in the first White House Conference on AIDS.