Book Mary Ann as a speaker for your event.
Professional events: Please book through AAE Speakers
Church groups and small informal groups: Contact me directly.
Recent Appearances:
Helping train police recruits at Palomar Police Acadamy, July 2025
Artists Response, June 2025
A dramatic reading from Trailblazer, presented with ten other artists and groups
Clarence A Anderson Peace and Justice Award, June 2025
From First Lutheran Church in San Diego:
Congratulations to FLC member Mary Ann Horton, who was awarded the 2025 Clarence E. Anderson Peace and Justice Award by #socallutherans. Recipients of the award have shown, through word and deed, a commitment to striving for peace and justice in church and society, especially as related to the full inclusion of sexual minorities. We are proud of you, Mary Ann!
Excerpts from the award letter detail Mary Ann’s contributions:
“In 1998, Mary Ann became the first transgender member of Lutherans Concerned, now known as ReconcilingWorks. Her personal journey helped to educate and transform hearts within the church. She recognized that while many Lutheran congregations were welcoming to gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals, transgender people were often overlooked. She worked to bridge the gap between understanding and acceptance, often being the only transgender voice present in important conversations.”
“…Mary Ann’s life is a powerful example of how faith and advocacy can come together to create meaningful change, inspiring others to work towards a more just and long community.”
The full award letter is attached. You can purchase a copy of Mary Ann’s book on Amazon.
Lesbian Luminaries, April 2025
Pamela Gort’s podcast “Lesbian Luminaries” featured a lovely interview with Mary Ann “Trailblazer for Transgender Equality”.
University of Wisconsin Madison
Spotlighted by UW-Madison’s Computer Science department.
Ellis Horowitz was my favorite professor at USC in 1973. It’s a honor to be spotlighted next to him for the UW-Madison Computer Science department’s 60th anniversary.
QWER Hacks (Keynote Speaker), February 2025
‘Multiple hackers have expressed their gratitude for being able to meet and hear from a legend. Your inspirational speech not only “brought tears” to our eyes, but also allowed us to truly appreciate the progress made in queer history, while being encouraged to “continue fighting for equality” and “changing the status quo”. We can’t express enough how thankful we are for your willingness to take time out of your weekend and availability for other opportunities to share your story with us.’ – Review by event organizers.
LGBT+ History Month feature, Oxford University’s Computer Science department, February 2024 and 2025
Mary Ann was again highlighted by Oxford University’s CS Department, along with Alan Turing, Audrey Tang, and Edie Windsor. “It’s LGBT+ History Month so we are running a campaign throughout February to celebrate some LGBT+ computer scientists who have influenced the world of computer science as it is today. The computer scientists we’re highlighting in this campaign are: Alan Turing, Audrey Tang, Mary Ann Horton, and Edie Windsor.”
I’m From Driftwood, the LGBTQIA+ Story Archive, October 2023
Ctrl+Alt+Defeat Discrimination: How One Trans Activist Transformed the Tech Industry.
Hudson River Trading, August 2023 (Keynote speaker)
Dear Mary Ann. Thank you again for sharing your incredible story with us earlier this month. Feedback from our ERG membership has been overwhelmingly positive, including “I’m resonating a lot with this talk,”, “this is one of the best presentations I’ve ever seen”, and “amazing on both the professional level accomplishing so much but also on the personal level fighting for so much”, truly inspirational.
Redeemer Lutheran Church, July 2023 (speaker)
Stonewall Columbus, June 2023 (speaker)
Dayton LGBT Center, June 2023 (speaker)
IEEE Diversity in Emerging Tech, July 2023 (panel)
Oceanside Sanctuary, June 2023 (speaker)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, May 2023 (speaker)
Punk Rock HR, April 2023 (podcast)
Bristol Myers Squibb, April 2023 (speaker)
Living Lutheran, March 2023 (magazine)
PACE-TV, March 2023 (television, pace-tv.com)
The Heroines of My Life, February 2023 (blog)
International Memoir Writers Association, March 2023 (panel)
Incarnation Lutheran Church, January 2023 (panel)
Oceanside Library, January 2023 (speaker)
Memoir Showcase – International Memoir Writers Association, December 2022 (performance of work by professional actor Charles Peters)
San Diego Union Tribune, November 2022
This story, One on one with Notable San Diego people, was on page 2 of the San Diego Union Tribune. The story was also picked up by Towleroad and the Poway News Chieftain.
San Diego Writers and Editors Guild
SDWEG featured me in November 2022.
International Memoir Writers Association
IMWA featured me in December 2022.
Usenix book review
Activist and tech wizard Tom Limoncelli reviewed Trailblazer.
25th anniversary of Lucent’s EEO policy, October 2022
The press story picked up by Yahoo Finance and other media. Other pickups included Yahoo Entertainment, Business Insurance, Digital Journal, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Beauty Trend publication in Ukraine.
Nokia blog for 25th anniversary
Nokia blogged about the big anniversary.
No Woman Left Behind
Rosie Zelenskis interviewed me for her blog.
Out TV, March 2021
Canada’s Out TV network posts a list of 13 modern day trailblazers for International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Nokia post for IDAHOBIT, May 2020
Changing history and building #Inclusion: Mary Ann Horton shares with us her inspiring story describing the early days of EQUAL!, the Nokia LGBT+ employee resource group. https://nokia.ly/3bBqQHo #IDAHOTB #IDAHOBIT #GenderEquality
Usenix ;login: Interview, Spring 2020
Rik Farrow of Usenix interviewed me for Usenix’s quarterly magazine.
IEEE Spectrum, Mar 2019
Peter Adams’ photos are showcased in a nice story about his photography. They showed twelve example photos from Peter’s large collection, and mine happened to be one of them. I was placed right next to Vint Cerf, the father of the Internet.
L-MAG, Feb 2019
The German magazine for lesbians L-MAG published a list of 10 lesbian inventors. What an honor to be included with the likes of Hedy Lamarr and Mrs. Claus!
Google Arts and Culture
Here is a nice story about what it takes to be an inventor.
Daily Beast, Apr 2018
An enthusiastic article about email attachments.
SecDev Foundation, Feb 2018
I was included in the SecDev Foundation‘s 2018 gallery of Cyber Women.
Faces of Open Source, Jun 2017
Peter Adams http://facesofopensource.com/ included my photo in his iconic web site Faces of Open Source.
The Advocate, September 2006
Joanne Herman’s column covers Out & Equal 2006, including my Cost of Transgender Health Benefits workshop.
Society for Human Resource Management, May 2002
SHRM’s magazine interviewed me in 2002.
Salon, Jan 2002
This 2002 story links me to the oldest surviving article posted to Usenet.
Outie Award for Trailblazer, Oct 2001
The prestigious Trailblazer Award was presented to me at the Outies, Out & Equal’s Workplace Summit, in Cincinnati.
First Columbus Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 2001
I found myself, by default, the keynote speaker at the inaugural Remembering Our Dead vigil in Columbus. The event was covered by Cleveland’s Gay People’s Chronicle, resulting in the worst photo of me ever taken, the evening after my second laser hair removal treatment left my face plaid with singed hair.
Diversity Factor, Fall 2000
A profile about my transgender advocacy work was carried in The Diversity Factor (page 18-19).
USENIX 25th Anniversary, 1994
I was the 6 of hearts in the 1994 USENIX deck of playing cards, commemorating the 25th anniversary of USENIX.