Power: The Straight Scoop on Thirty-Five Gay Power Players

23. Doug Hattaway
Democratic Strategist; CEO, Hattaway Communications
Hattaway’s political history is all over the map: He popped up as Al Gore’s spokesman when Gore ran for president, went intercontinental during Tony Blair’s 2001 reelection campaign, stuck close to home to help plan last year’s Democratic convention, and surfaces in news stories about partner Barrios (number 1), who surely benefits from his seasoned advice.

24. Nancy Shilepsky
Partner, Perkins Smith & Cohen
The National Law Journal calls Shilepsky, treasurer of the Boston Bar Association, one of the most influential lawyers in the state, and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly named a case she worked on involving alleged discrimination at Stonehill College one of the ten most important decisions of last year.

25. Dr. Valerie Fein-Zachary
Cochair, Freedom to Marry Coalition
A familiar face in the gay and lesbian activist community, Fein-Zachary helped found the Lesbian Health Fund and has ramped up the Freedom to Marry Coalition, which played a key role in the same-sex marriage debate and has grown from a few hundred members to 10,000 during her time there.

26. Sue Hyde
New England Field Manager, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Hyde came to Boston to edit the now-defunct Gay Community News, then joined the Gay and Lesbian Defense Committee and worked to overturn a ban on gays becoming foster parents. When she became part of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, she fought against national sodomy laws. Hyde is also a cofounder of the Cambridge Lavender Alliance, a gay and lesbian political group.

27. Vincent McCarthy
Counsel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
“Vin” McCarthy, who retired from a senior partnership at Wilmer Cutler in 2003, is a philanthropic lion. He founded the Human Rights Campaign’s New England branch and the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association, served on the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Youth, and has championed the Pine Street Inn for more than a quarter of a century.