Mary Dean Carter
Mary Dean Carter, born in 1953, grew up in Richmond, Virginia, in a working-class family with strong, generational ties to Virginia. At Westhampton College of the University of Richmond, she met Beth Marschak through the Organization for Women’s Liberation (OWL), and was to feminist activism.
Mary Dean Carter was a founding member of Richmond Lesbian Feminists (RLF) in 1975. Through RLF, she learned about other forms of activism. She served as a board member of the Richmond feminist bookstore, Richmond Womensbooks. In 1976, she joined Richmond NOW (National Organization for Women), serving as their program coordinator. She became disillusioned with their ambivalent attitude toward lesbian issues at the time.
Early on, Mary Dean Carter considered herself bisexual. In 1980, she had her first, primary relationship with a woman, and she never looked back, identifying as a lesbian ever since. She married the love of her life, Carmela “Alfie” Alfonso, in 2014, shortly after same-sex marriage became legal in Virginia.
Mary Dean Carter now works as an archival assistant at Library of Virginia.