Quick Facts
Biography
Candace Gingrich (born June 2, 1966) is an American LGBT rights activist at the Human Rights Campaign. She is the half-sister of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who is more than 20 years her senior. She pronounces her name "Gingrick".
Biography
Candace Gingrich was born to Robert and Kathleen (Daugherty) Gingrich on June 2, 1966. She attended high school at Central Dauphin East High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1989.
Professional work
Although Gingrich's sexual orientation was publicly reported on as early as 1994, she first gained significant press attention in 1995 as a spokesperson for gay rights. She served as the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Project Spokesperson for 1995 and was named one of Esquire's "Women We Love" and "Women of the Year" for Ms. magazine. She is currently the Senior Manager of the Human Rights Campaign's Youth & Campus Outreach. Her autobiography, Accidental Activist: A Personal and Political Memoir, was released in 1996.
Public appearances
She has guest-starred on the television sitcom Friends in January 1996, in which she officiated over a commitment ceremony for two recurring characters in the episode "The One With the Lesbian Wedding." She also appeared on the debut of Al Franken's TV program Lateline in 1998. Candace appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show on December 7, 2011 to talk about her half-brother Newt Gingrich. On April 9, 2011 she received the LGBT Humanist Pride Award from the American Humanist Association.
Gingrich endorsed President Barack Obama in 2012, despite her half-brother running for the Republican nomination.
Personal
She married playwright Rebecca Jones in 2009. The Gingrich-Joneses lived in Hyattsville, Maryland, where Candace played rugby with the Washington Furies. In 2013 it was reported the couple were divorcing.