Susan Gray

Susan “Dougie” Gray swam in the 1956 Olympics while a high school student at Holton-Arms School in suburban Washington, DC. She swam for the Walter Reed Swim Club. In 1955 she starred at the AAU Meet, winning the 400 freestyle, placing second in the 800 and 1,500 freestyle, and was third in the 100 free. That year she also won the 250 and 500 yard freestyles at the AAU indoors and won a bronze medal in the 400 free at the 1955 Pan American Games.

Gray later attended Northwestern University, graduating in 1961. She became a teacher in California, briefly coached the Thailand swim team, volunteered with the Peace Corps, and then married, raising two children, although the couple divorced after 15 years of marriage. Gray attended law school, graduating in 1977 and began practice in California, mostly as a law clerk for large private firms early in her career.

In 1978 Gray became an attorney for the Gay Community Services Center of Hollywood, and this led to her becoming a civil rights attorney for the Southern California ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), with a focus on gay and lesbian rights, and she later came out as gay. She eventually represented the ACLU on cases against the Boy Scouts of America, in defense of the Gay Games against the US Olympic Committee, and in defense of the Norton Sound Eight. In 1983 Gray also filed an unsuccessful suit against the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, demanding that the 5,000 and 10K distance races (track & field) be added to the program for women.