Dates

• Existence: 1957-

Biography

Jo Futrell was born in 1957. She attended the University of Iowa where she attained two M.A.’s in Journalism and Mass Communication and Expository Writing/English. It was at the University of Iowa that Futrell came out as a lesbian, after which she was invited to join the Common Lives/Lesbian Lives (CL/LL) editorial collective in the spring of 1992. Her first task was to write the beginning “Notes to the Readers” letter for issue #42 of CL/LL.

As part of the editorial collective, Futrell aided in accepting and declining writing submissions, deciding on art pieces and graphics to use in the magazine, as well as participating in local activities such as softball games along with the rest of the collective. Before each editorial meeting, Futrell and the collective would share personal stories relating to what was going on in their lives, creating a strong bond between them.

In the fall of 1994, Futrell left CL/LL to move to Wisconsin; however, Futrell returned to CL/LL when the collective’s publisher went bankrupt. The bankruptcy would officially end CL/LL magazine, and Futrell aided in tying up ends for the magazine. To preserve the work of CL/LL, the editorial collective sent full sets of the magazine to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York and to the Iowa Women’s Archives.

In 2007, Futrell attended Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, earning a J.D. Futrell would use this degree to conduct legal research into disability rights and legislation, as well as employment law and special education law. While residing in Rio, Wisconsin, Futrell worked as an Equity and Inclusion Officer and Medical Issues Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

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