Diane Wolter defines equality as "everybody being treated the same with respect to human rights regardless of their race, gender or sexual preference."

As a proud mother, an educational resource, and an activist, Wolter has taken on a whole host of roles in a concerted effort to challenge inequality. She founded the Gay-Straight Alliance in Salem-Keizer six
years ago, which she says, "helps a lot of kids".

More recently, this past fall Wolter became President of the PFLAG chapter in Salem. She teamed up with another PFLAG mother and for the past few years, the duo have visited schools informing staff members
on equality issues and giving educators tools for acknowledging and supporting their gay student population. A particular technique that is well-received among educators is providing the time, space, and guidance to reflect on their own experiences with regard to homosexuality and biases. Wolter and her co-facilitator engage teachers in safe conversations surrounding how their personal beliefs about homosexuality have or have not changed over the years.

Perhaps the greatest motivation driving Wolter's cause is the fact that her son is gay. "I sort of had to drag him out of the closet at age 12," she says. "It was the early to mid nineties and he experienced some discrimination." Wolter went on to describe a familiar scene in which athletic and competitive school boys tease their peers in gym class. These particular boys noticed that Wolter's son was not a carbon-copy aggressor and began distributing labels and calling him names like 'fairy'. This experience had a twofold effect at the time: it further discouraged her son from coming out and it empowered Wolter to become an active advocate for human rights and equality.

When asked about her hope for this world, Wolter took a thoughtful moment and then simply said, "I want my son to have the same rights as my daughters. I want him to have the right to marry, raise children, and share insurance with a partner. That is what I want for him, what any mother would want for her son."