Sheila Kuehl
When Kuehl was elected as a Democrat to the California Assembly in 1994 a Republican majority was seated for the first time in 20 years. This was due largely as an out-flowing of the enthusiasm stoked up by Newt Gingrich's strategy supporting Republicans for the Federal Legislature. Kuehl recalled "The Republican majority was quite a different kind of Republican, not a moderate, not a Rockefeller Republican. They were primarily Bible-thumpers and very right-wing. So it was not the most welcoming Republican group, though they loved Zelda Gilroy, and it was very difficult for them because they already liked me so much…. And to their surprise, we all got along very well. ...The Republicans were pretty horrible about LGBT stuff. They all virtually said stuff like, 'Well, they're all spawn of the devil, oh, but not you, Sheila….'"
Sheila Michaels
Michaels was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality, and began popularizing the term Ms. from 1961, when she saw it in a newspaper. In 1969, Michaels appeared on the New York City radio station WBAI, where she introduced the term. In doing so, she caught the attention of Gloria Steinem, who in 1972 named her magazine "Ms." In 1975, Michaels went to Laos, working with children injured during the Vietnam War.