Lorri Rudland was born in Haida Gwaii and lived there until she was two years old, when her family moved and she grew up in Surrey, BC. At the age of 29, she came out as a lesbian and has been a lifelong feminist, supporter of LGBTQ2S+ rights, human rights and organized labour.
In her early years, following graduation from UBC, she worked at the Vancouver Status of Women as an ombudswoman, during 1976-1977 and the early ‘80’s. For VSW she was instrumental in sending a complaint to the Judicial Council in 1976 about a Vancouver judge who used demeaning sexist language during a court case. In partnership with VSW, she and Megan Ellis from Women Against Violence Against Women brought a complaint to the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission in 1983 against Doug Collins, a CKVU reporter, who had advocated that women from Media Watch be sent to the front lines so they could be raped in wartime. Both cases were won. She continued to work in advocacy organizations planning demonstrations and writing reports. During her working career she also worked as a medical lab technologist, an activist, a clerical worker, and an administrator.
