Denise Brogan-Kator joined Family Equality in August 2012 as Director of State Policy. In July 2017, she took on leadership of the Public Policy team as Chief Policy Officer and stepped in as Interim CEO for 8 months during 2019–2020. She retired from full-time work at the end of May 2021. For nearly 9 years, Denise has been integral to our policy team’s work to advocate for lived and legal equality for LGBTQ+ families and we are pleased that she continues to share her knowledge, insights, and guidance in an “Of Counsel” role.
A US Submarine Service veteran, she graduated from the University of Michigan Law school (matriculating as the first openly transgender law student and later returning as the first openly transgender law professor) and earned her MBA from the University of Colorado. Denise has a nearly 30 year history of public and private advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, coming to us as a former Executive Director of a statewide LGBT advocacy organization.
She lives in Florida with her spouse, Mary, her mother-in-law, Kitty, and 5 cats. She has three grown daughters and two grandchildren.