Linda Ketner
{{Short description|American philanthropist}}
Linda Ketner (born May 12, 1950) is a philanthropist and co-founder of the Charleston, South Carolina-based LGBTQ advocacy group Alliance for Full Acceptance. In 2008, she became the first openly gay candidate for the House of Representatives in South Carolina history when she ran as a Democrat in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District.{{Cite news|last=Comer|first=Matt|date=April 5, 2008|title=Ketner files for coastal congressional run|work=Q-notes|url=http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2006225405/2008-04-05/ed-1/seq-14/|access-date=May 19, 2020}}
Biography
Linda Ketner was born on May 12, 1950, in Salisbury, North Carolina, to Ralph Wright Ketner and Ruth Jones Ketner Hope. Ralph Ketner co-founded Food Town, which later became the Food Lion grocery store chain.{{Cite news|date=May 31, 2016|title=Ralph Ketner|work=The State|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestate/obituary.aspx?pid=180163137}} In 2008, Ketner ran as a Democrat for South Carolina's 1st Congressional district against Republican incumbent Henry Brown. Brown won the race with 52% of the vote to Ketner's 48%,{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/results/states/south-carolina.html |title=Election Results 2008 - South Carolina |website=The New York Times |date=December 9, 2008 |access-date=April 11, 2021}} a distance of 16,000 votes.{{Cite news|last=Behre|first=Robert|date=November 6, 2008|title=Day later, Brown wins|work=The Post and Courier|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/day-later-brown-wins/article_b57af1e9-01aa-57c3-9685-953679cd0594.html|access-date=May 19, 2020}} She remained popular with many Charlestonians, and publicly contemplated running for mayor of Charleston in 2013.{{Cite web|last=Bowers|first=Paul|date=2013-10-30|title=Linda Ketner considering a run for Charleston mayor|url=https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2013/10/30/linda-ketner-considering-a-run-for-charleston-mayor|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Charleston City Paper|language=en|archive-date=2020-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721201508/https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2013/10/30/linda-ketner-considering-a-run-for-charleston-mayor|url-status=dead}}
Ketner has been involved in extensive volunteer and advocacy work in South Carolina with the LGBTQ community, homelessness and housing as well as racial justice. She worked with the Charleston chapter of the NAACP as a committee chair, receiving a Special Recognition Award from the group in 2013.{{Cite news|last=Parker|first=Adam|date=November 20, 2009|title=NAACP, Bond celebrate dreams, successes|work=The Post and Courier|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/news/naacp-bond-celebrate-dreams-successes/article_b8948ea2-f1c1-5a31-bc55-fab230e76bee.html|access-date=May 19, 2020}}{{Cite news|date=December 1, 2013|title=Charleston NAACP plans to honor community members at fundraiser|work=The Post and Courier|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/charleston-naacp-plans-to-honor-community-members-at-fundraiser/article_c00b2c57-14b6-5a3b-bb5e-e8247c171fdd.html|access-date=May 19, 2020}} She and her partner, Beth Huntley, did volunteer work in Pass Christian, Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina, coordinating supplies.{{Cite news|last=Moore|first=David|date=November 5, 2005|title=While the world moves on, hurricane victims still struggling|work=Q-notes|url=http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2006225405/2005-11-05/ed-1/seq-13/|access-date=May 19, 2020}} Ketner co-founded the Alliance for Full Acceptance in 1998 and served as president until 2004.{{Cite web|title=Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA) records|url=http://findingaids.library.cofc.edu/repositories/2/resources/67|website=College of Charleston Special Collections|access-date=May 19, 2020}} She was cofounder and president of the South Carolina Equality Coalition (now known as SC Equality) in 2005 during the group's campaign against South Carolina Amendment 1.{{Cite news|last=Miller|first=Donald|date=November 5, 2005|title=One year and counting: Will S.C. turn its back on gay and lesbian citizens over marriage amendment?|work=Q-notes|url=http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2006225405/2005-11-05/ed-1/seq-1/|access-date=May 19, 2020}} For a more complete bio, [http://lindaketner.com/#bio lindaketner.com/#bio]. Interviews with her can be found on her website lindaketner.com: http://lindaketner.com.
In "Finding Home Without a Map," an essay published in 2018,{{Cite book|last=Morris|first=Sheila R.|title=Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|year=2018|isbn=978-1-61117-814-2|location=Columbia, South Carolina|pages=74, 80, 81}} Ketner discussed her attempts to "pray and will myself into heterosexuality" as a young woman and, after ending her marriage to a man and living as a lesbian, her long spiritual journey. "It was actually almost two decades before I could attend a traditional Christian service without weeping," she wrote. Her study of non-Christian religions and her three-year affiliation with an all-Black congregation gave her a deeper connection to God and strengthened her commitment to social justice. Ketner also noted that many LGBTQ people do not "feel that love of God that never leaves you isolated and alone. That’s the spiritual path of some gays and lesbians, but most of us have not made that journey. The tragedy of the lack of support for LGBTQ spirituality and relationship in houses of worship is that so many gays have permanently left the church and God and never make it."
References
External links
- [http://www.lindaketner.com/ Linda Ketner's campaign website]
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Category:American lesbian politicians
Category:American LGBTQ rights activists
Category:LGBTQ people from North Carolina
Category:LGBTQ people from South Carolina