Born in Seattle, Marsha Botzer has served the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and progressive communities in various roles for over 35 years. Botzer founded Ingersoll Gender Center in Seattle in 1979 and continues to serve the organization, which provides services to transgender people in Seattle including a weekly “All-Trans” support group.
Botzer was an early member of Hands Off Washington, a founding member of Equality Washington and served as a board member for Pride Foundation, Safe Schools Coalition, Lambert House, and Seattle Counseling Service. She was a founding board member of Equal Rights Washington and co-chair of the Seattle City LBGT Commission.
Botzer served as co-chair of The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 2005-6 and again in 2009-10. She is a founding member of the Out In Front Leadership Project, and served on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health board of directors during development of the Version 7 Standards of Care. In 2008 Botzer served as a national co-chair of the Obama Pride Campaign. In 2009 she served on the Leadership Committee for the Equality Across America March in Washington DC, speaking at the Capitol Rally. Since 2011 she has been a Faculty member of the Los Angeles LGBTQ Community Center’s Emerging Leader’s Project, focusing on work with China.
Botzer received the Virginia Prince Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Federation for Gender Education, and in 2006 Lambda Legal selected her to receive its Civil Rights Hero Award. In 2007 she was given The Task Force Leadership Award and in 2009 Botzer received the Jose Julio Sarria Civil Rights Award. In 2011 she received the Washington State GLBT Bar Association Award for Community Service, and in 2013 the Inaugural U.S. Edition Trans 100 List selected Botzer for membership.
Marsha Botzer shared her thoughts and memories of her involvement with LGBTQ activism with Kevin McKenna on August 6, 2014. To the right are video excerpts from the interview. The full interview is preserved in Special Collections Library, University of Washington.
Work on this interview was made possible by a grant from 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax.