Lori Lipman Brown (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician and activist from the state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. She has served as a

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

supporter. Additionally, her political views have been

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

and

civil libertarian Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports civil liberties, or which emphasizes the supremacy of individual rights and personal freedoms over and against any kind of authority (such as a state, a corporation, social nor ...

and describes herself as an atheist humanist Jew. She served as a Nevada State Senator from 1992 to 1994, advocating for repeals of consensual sex crimes. This led to her being named Civil Libertarian of the Year by the Nevadan chapter of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

. Additionally, she has organized numerous events for the Humanist Association of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada, the

Secular Student Alliance The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is an American educational nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate high school and college students about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic and ...

, and the

American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constitutiona ...

. She was defeated for reelection to the State Senate by

Kathy Augustine Kathy Marie Alfano Augustine (May 29, 1956 – July 11, 2006) was an American politician from Nevada. A Republican, Augustine served in the Nevada Assembly (1993–1995) and in the Nevada Senate (1995–1999). She was Nevada's first femal ...

in 1994. Outside of the secularist and nontheistic movement, Brown worked in education and social work. From 1996 to 2000 she was the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

's diversity trainer. Formerly a private lawyer, she taught

United States constitutional law The constitutional law of the United States is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution. The subject concerns the scope of power of the United States federal government compared to the indi ...

, education law, and

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

through the

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree lev ...

. Additionally, she taught

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

drama, English, and speech and helped found Eldorado High School's Gay-Straight Student Alliance. For social work friendly legislation, she won the Legislator of the Year by the Nevada chapter of the

National Association of Social Workers The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is a professional organization of social workers in the United States. NASW has about 120,000 members. The NASW provides guidance, research, up to date information, advocacy, and other resources f ...

. Brown served as the founding director of the Secular Coalition for America from 2005 to 2009. In this position, she was the first Congressional lobbyist explicitly representing nontheistic Americans. During her directorship, the organization grew from a coalition of 5 national organizations with one staff, to a coalition of 10 national organizations with six staff. Brown currently works for NES Associates, an IT firm in Alexandria, Virginia. On November 29, 2005, she appeared on ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

'' to debate Christmas’s recognition as a national holiday from a secularist point of view. On August 29, 2008, she appeared on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...

'' in an interview with Stephen Colbert.

Controversy

During her campaign for reelection in 1994, Brown's political opponent,

, along with Senators

William Raggio William Raggio (October 30, 1926 – February 23, 2012) was an American politician and a former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Nevada Senate. He represented Washoe County's 3rd district from 1972 until his retire ...

, Raymond Rawson, and Sue Lowden, accused her through campaign ads of refusing to say the

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

Backstory: Nader and nadirs
by Michael Green, Thursday, July 15, 2004, ''

Las Vegas Mercury ''Las Vegas Mercury'' was an alternative newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 4, 2001 to March 15, 2005. The paper folded when Stephens Media purchased ''Las Vegas CityLife'' and combined the two newspapers. Columnists * James ...

'' and for opposing legislative prayer.Marilyn Westfall
"An Interview with Lori Lipman Brown"
September 18, 2007

References

External links

*

CBS News: Atheists Have A Lobbyist, Too

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Lori Lipman Nevada state senators Jewish American atheists American activists American lobbyists Jewish humanists Jewish American state legislators in Nevada University of Phoenix faculty Living people National Education Association people Women state legislators in Nevada 1958 births