Diane Lawless is a Kentuckian activist, a politician, and a community leader in Lexington, Kentucky, She is a current candidate for the City Council of Lexington representing the 3rd District.
Early Career
Diane Lawless was born November 14, 1951 to William Grant and Dorothy Miles Grant. She has two children, Matt Lawless (35) of Atlanta, GA Adam Lawless (32) of Eugene, Oregon.
Diane Lawless grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky. Lawless came to Lexington in 1969 to attend the University of Kentucky. After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, Lawless worked as an accountant. In 1977, Lawless became a volunteer with the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center. Lawless made her mark as a volunteer by successfully lobbying for Kentucky's Rape Shield law in 1978. In 1979, Lawless was named the Executive Director of the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center. She returned to the University of Kentucky at this time and earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work and continued on to become a licensed clinical social worker.
Activism
Lawless began focusing her efforts on activism in the late 1970s and lobbied for funding and laws at the local, state and national level. As a member of the Legislative Committee for the National Coalition Against Rape, she helped draft and lobbied for the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. Later, this success was strengthened by the passage of the federal Violence Against Women Act. Both of these laws have been lauded for their advancement of women's rights. "VAWA was drafted by Senator Joseph Biden's office with support from a number of advocacy organizations including Legal Momentum and The National Organization for Women, which heralded the bill as 'the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades.'" The Violence Against Women Act has been reauthorized twice by Congress and will be up for reauthorization again in 2010.
Lawless was a founding member of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs (KASAP) and was the chair of the legislative committee for nearly 15 years. KASAP helped contribute to the passage of new laws promoting the rights of victims and their ability to access relevant services. KASAP also successfully pushed for increased funding for victims of child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. Lawless retired from the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center after 26 years. In her tenure as executive director, the center grew from a small, mostly volunteer agency, with a budget of $30,000 to one operating with a budget of over a million dollars a year, serving 17 counties through 8 office locations.
Lawless has also been a prominent community leader in activism unrelated to sexual violence. She is noted for her work with The Red Cross, AIDS Volunteers of Lexington, the Lexington Health Department, and the United Way. She assisted in the founding of Lexington Yellow Bikes as well as the Kentucky Classical Theatre Conservatory. Lawless also serves on the strategic planning committee for the Lexington Art League. She also serves on the board for the Friends of the Farmer's Market.
Lawless was one of Lexington publication Ace Weekly's 2004 This Year's Models, citizens exemplifying strong community membership.
Political Involvement Lawless has been instrumental in the election of several prominent Lexington politicians including current Vice-Mayor Jim Gray.
Lawless has been involved for some time with the national Democratic Party. She has been a delegate to the Democratic National Convention on several occasions, including in 2004 and 2008.
Lawless currently sits on the Democratic National Committee's Credentials subcommittee.
2008 Council Race Lawless is running for the Council seat representing the 3rd District on the 12-member council. The 3rd District includes the following neighborhoods: Aylesford Place Neighborhood, Bell Court Neighborhood Assoc., Cherokee Park Neighborhood Assoc., Columbia Heights Neighborhood Assoc., East Lake Neighborhood Assoc., Elizabeth St. Neighborhood Assoc., Grosvenor/Woolfork Neighborhood Assoc., Historic South Hill Neighborhood, Hollywood Terrace Neighborhood Assoc., Hollywood—Mt. Vernon Neighborhood Assoc., Mentelle Neighborhood Assoc., Montclair Neighborhood Assoc., North Elizabeth St., Oldham Ave. Neighborhood, Penmoken Park Neighborhood, Picadome Neighborhood Assoc., Pralltown Dev. Corp., Seven Parks Neighborhood Assoc., Transylvania Park Neighborhood, Wgpl Neighborhood Assoc., and Woodland Triangle Neighborhood Assoc.
The third district is perhaps most notable for including the University of Kentucky and the downtown area in addition to these neighborhoods.
Sitting Councilman Dick Decamp is term-limited in 2008, having served on the Council for 6 consecutive terms. In the primary, Lawless went up against Eric Thomason, Don Pratt, Jonathan Rodgers, and Garry Weston. Lawless won more than 50% of the vote and defeated the other candidates by a two-to-one margin. Eric Thomason came in second place with 642 votes to the 1,390 amassed by Lawless. Thomason will advance to the November election to face Lawless. The race is notable for being the first in Lexington between two openly gay politicians.
Political Stances Lawless has expressed support for the expansion of Lextran, Lexington's public transportation system, particularly for commuters.
She has endorsed the proposal that Urban County employees be paid a living wage with the exception of certain part-time employees.
Lawless has urged caution in overdeveloping downtown Lexington too quickly, saying about the CentrePoint hotel project planned for downtown: "I don’t think Centerpointe, as proposed, comes close to meeting the standard of good, responsible development for Downtown Lexington. The process set forth by LFUCG with the Court House Overlay Review Board and TIF funding should never be rushed for any reason. We will be living with this decision for decades."
She supports the Purchase of Development Rights program and the funding of the Land Bank. She is a strong advocate for Neighborhood Associations and other alliances in residential communities; one of her central campaign points has been advocating for responsible zoning and land use.
She has urged more consideration of infrastructural maintenance, particularly with storm/rainwater drainage and upkeep of roads, medians, and sidewalks.
Lawless has advocated for increases in staffing and funding for historical preservation trusts. She also promotes community awareness of the historic districts of Lexington in order to heighten visibility of the role of historical preservation within community.