Roberta Kaplan (Attorney, U.S. v. Windsor) & Hilary Rosen (PR Supremo)

Out magazine is slowly unwrapping its annual Top 100 List of influential LGBT personalities. This year, two powerhouse Jewish Lesbians have made the cut:

Roberta Kaplan

Kaplan, known in legal circles as a powerhouse corporate litigator, is one of a handful of attorneys who over the past decade have decisively shaped and driven the legal fight for same-sex marriage nationally. She paved the way for the 2011 vote in New York’s legislature legalizing same-sex marriages in the state. And of course, succesfully represented Edith Windsor, whose wife Thea Spyer died in 2009 after a decades-long struggle with multiple sclerosis, to win her case for $363,053 in federal estate taxes she never would have been asked to pay if she’d been married to a man… and in so doing, caused the Supreme Court to grant federal marriage equality nationwide.

Hilary Rosen

Hilary Rosen is is an American lobbyist and Democratic pundit. She’s had some interesting and all-over-the-charts connections to widespread causes including in 2007, when she was involved in creating the now-defunct OurChart.com for fans of the television series The L Word. She also is a former partner and co-parent with Elizabeth Birch, former head of the HRC. Later, Rosen began a television pundit career, first with CNBC and then with MSNBC. She signed with CNN in early 2008. In 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rosen was consulting with DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. In April 2012, The Nation’s journalist Lee Fang penned an article entitled “The Real Hilary Rosen Scandal” in which Rosen’s firm is described as “an unregistered lobbying firm that has become one of the biggest names in the influence business by using its ties to President Obama and leaders in Congress.

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