Abby Rubenfeld

{{short description|American civil rights attorney (born 1953)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Abby Rubenfeld

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1953}}

| birth_place = Oneonta, New York, U.S.

| occupation = Civil rights lawyer, adjunct professor

| education = Princeton University (BA)

Boston University (JD)

| father = Milton Rubenfeld

| relatives = Paul Reubens (brother)

| children = 2

}}

Abby Rubenfeld (born 1953) is an American civil rights attorney who practices in Nashville, Tennessee.{{cite news |first=Judy |last=Klemesrud |work=The New York Times |title=Never Underestimate Power of a Woman, Even at Princeton |date=1971-12-16 |access-date=2008-10-08|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/16/archives/never-underestimate-power-of-a-woman-even-at-princeton.html }}

Rubenfeld received an A.B. with honors from Princeton University, where she was class president, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1979, where she helped create the Boston University Law Association.[http://www.rubenfeldlaw.com/ Rubenfeld Law firm website]. Retrieved January 11, 2021 She was admitted to practice law in 1979.

She challenged Tennessee's "Homosexual Practices Acts" law, which criminalized sodomy. The sodomy law was overturned in 1996.{{Cite web|last=Barchenger|first=Stacey|title=Abby Rubenfeld fought for equality decades before gay marriage win|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2015/07/08/abby-rubenfeld-fights-inequality-princeton-supreme-court/29893123/|access-date=2021-02-12|website=The Tennessean|language=en-US}} In 2013, she organized a group of attorneys and plaintiffs to challenge Tennessee's ban on same-sex marriage. She filed the lawsuit that led to Tennessee's inclusion in the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide.

She was an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School and chair of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities section of the American Bar Association.{{cite web |url=http://law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/faculty-detail/index.aspx?faculty_id=272 |title=Abby R. Rubenfeld |access-date=2008-11-14 |publisher=Vanderbilt Law School }}{{cite web|url=http://www.nlgla.org/pastChairs.html |title=Past Chairs |access-date=2008-10-17 |publisher=National Law Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820034203/http://nlgla.org/pastChairs.html |archive-date=2008-08-20 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.abanet.org/irr/history/acknowledgments.html |title=A Brief History of the American Bar Association |access-date=2008-10-17 |publisher=American Bar Association |date=1999-08-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050330102509/http://www.abanet.org/irr/history/acknowledgments.html |archive-date=2005-03-30 }}

She has served as a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the Human Rights Campaign. She was an attorney and Legal Director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.

Rubenfeld is the daughter of Milton Rubenfeld and the sister of actor Paul Reubens. She is married to Helia Rethmann, and has two daughters and a stepdaughter.