25 Faces of Fairness: Carla F. Wallace

From the Queer Kentucky archiveThis story is part of 25 Faces of Fairness, Issue 07 of our print magazine (2024). See all the stories

Carla F. Wallace she/her Louisville

Use one queer slang word to describe Kentucky!

My partner and I say “Queebville” when referring to the queering of Louisville.

How did you activate and organize your community for equality?

I co-founded the Fairness Campaign in 1991, which fought and won protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations in 1999. We centered racial and economic justice in that battle and made it a knockout, drag out public battle with protest, lobbying, public education, door to door work, civil disobedience and more. We refused to leave out gender identity, despite pressure from within our own LGBTQ+ community to do so, and won that before New York City and Chicago. We also used the people power we built to win race reforms and living wages for city workers.

In the last 25 years, what is one moment that gave you hope for Kentucky’s fight in equality?

When so many queer people who are white, joined us in the streets to protest when Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville police. Only together can we win the world we need, for ALL of us.

What do you think is next for Kentucky in the fight for Equality?

I want to see us on the frontlines in the fight for affordable housing, healthcare, and police accountability. Those issues have critical impacts on the most vulnerable in our LGBTQ+ community.

What are Kentucky’s greatest strengths when it comes to the fight for Queer equality?

We understand that we have to fight collectively to build collective liberation. This is not about quietly trying to convince people in power to care about us. As Frederick Douglass said, Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand.