Mary C. Dunlap

Civil rights lawyer

What is Mary C. Dunlap known for?

Mary C. Dunlap, born on May 25, 1948 in Napa, California, was an enduring figure in the realm of civil rights law. She graduated from Napa High School before proceeding to the University of California, Berkeley, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in 1968 and a Juris Doctor degree from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1971. It was at law school where she, along with other students, founded the Boalt Hall Women's Association, a significant milestone in her career.

Dunlap's commitment to equality led her to co-found the non-profit law firm, Equal Rights Advocates, in 1973. This firm specialized in sex discrimination law, a field in which Dunlap passionately fought. Throughout her career, she challenged inequality and discrimination in many high-profile cases. She debated Phyllis Schlafly on the Equal Rights Amendment at Mills College in 1976, represented a pregnant teacher who was forced to take maternity leave, and argued a class-action suit against laundries for discriminatory price differences between services for men's and women's clothing, asserting "ring-around-the-collar ought to cost the same to remove, whether a man or a woman put it there".

Dunlap also made her mark representing the Gay Games before the Supreme Court in San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee in 1987. She supported Black firefighters in a civil rights challenge to the San Francisco Fire Department's hiring practices and played a pivotal role in the early work of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Not just limited to the confines of the court, Dunlap was appointed as the director of San Francisco's Office of Citizen Complaints in 1996, where she oversaw complaints against city police officers. Outside of her role as an attorney, she taught at the University of California, Hastings College of Law, Golden Gate University, Stanford University, and the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Apart from her significant contributions in the field of law, Dunlap was also a prolific writer. Her written works include influential publications such as "The Equal Rights Amendment and the Courts" (1975), "The Constitutional Rights of Sexual Minorities: A Crisis of the Male/Female Dichotomy" (1978), "Toward Recognition of A Right to Be Sexual" (1981), and "The Lesbian and Gay Marriage Debate: A Microcosm of Our Hopes and Troubles in the Nineties" (1991). She also expressed herself through poetry, with one of her poems being included in Andrew Sullivan's "Same-Sex Marriage, Pro and Con: A Reader" (1997).

Mary C. Dunlap's lifelong dedication to equal rights and her contribution to civil rights law truly make her a notable alumna of Napa High School. Her work continues to inspire and serves as a benchmark for fairness and equality in our society.