Clay Latimer

Clay Latimer was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1944. Latimer moved to New Orleans at the age of 15 to live with her uncle after both of her parents passed away. In 1964 she studied at Southeast Louisiana College in Hammond and became inspired by the Civil Rights Movements, deciding to dedicate herself to activism.
Latimer received her Juris Doctorate in 1976 from Loyola University School of Law and around the same time became active in New Orleans NOW. She headed an ERA task force for New Orleans NOW and helped create the first ERA coalition in Louisiana. Another focus of her activism was the efforts to have the “Head and Master” provision deemed unconstitutional. After working for four years with the YWCA after law school, Latimer became a public defender. She then took a position as an attorney for the state child protection agency, where she remained for 25 years. After her retirement she accepted a position to serve on the Louisiana LGBT Task Force in order to address the needs of LGBT children in foster care. She has also served on the Board of the Forum for Equality.
Among the many awards she has received, Latimer received an Outstanding Feminist Award from the Jefferson Parish chapter of NOW in 1978 and the Equality Award from the local Human Rights Campaign in 2006.