Kim Gandy

Kim Gandy (born January 25, 1954) is an American feminist and the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Gandy was born in Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana to Alfred Kenneth Gandy and Roma R. Gandy (1927-1998), a native of Pennsylvania. Her father was an officer of the former Bossier Bank and Trust Company, an institution organized during the 1920s by her grandfather, W.A. Gandy. After Roma's death, A.K. Gandy married the former Shirley S. Lacobee (1925-2004) of Shreveport. Kim Gandy had a younger sister, who, like their mother, died of cancer.

Kim Gandy graduated from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics.

Having taken a job with AT&T, Gandy became outraged that the firm required her husband's permission for employee benefits. She joined Louisiana NOW in 1973 and devoted the next several years to the campaign that overturned the state's Head and Master law, which gave husbands unilateral control over all property jointly owned by a married couple. She was divorced, resumed her maiden name, and inspired by her activism in NOW, studied law at Loyola University New Orleans where she was a member of the "Loyola Law Review" and the National Moot Court Team. She graduated in 1978.

Gandy went on to serve as a senior assistant district attorney in New Orleans, and later opened a private trial practice, litigating countless cases seeking fair treatment for women. She served as president of Louisiana NOW from 1979 through 1981, national secretary of NOW from 1987 to 1991, and executive vice president of NOW from 1991 to 2001. She was elected national NOW president in 2001 and re-elected to a second term in 2005.

In 2008, Gandy surfaced as a defender of presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. She criticized MSNBC host Chris Matthews, himself a Democrat, for remarks that Matthews made about Clinton having received "sympathy" support because her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, "messed around." Gandy charged that Matthews "is a repeat offender when it comes to sexist attitudes toward women politicians. . . . I wasn't really looking for an apology. I was looking for a behavior change, and for him to treat female politicians the same way as [he treats] male politicians." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/17/AR2008011702828.html Chris Matthews Backs Off 'Nasty' Remark on Clinton - washingtonpost.com ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.now.org/officers/kg.html NOW Officers: Kim Gandy – President]
* [http://www.now.org/organization/conference/2005/actfornow.html 2005 National NOW Elections – Candidate Information]