Rebecca Hensler (born 1969) is an American educator, LGBTQ+ activist and founder of secular grief-support community Grief Beyond Belief.

Early life and education

Hensler was born in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and spent her childhood and teenage years there. Her mother

Deborah Hensler Deborah R. Hensler (born 1942) is an American academic and researcher, currently the Judge John W. Ford Professor of Dispute Resolution at Stanford Law School. Hensler holds a Ph.D in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog ...

, currently the Judge John W. Ford Professor of Dispute Resolution at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

, worked at the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

during Hensler's childhood. She and her brother attended private school following the passing of

Proposition 13 Proposition 13 (officially named the People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation) is an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process, to cap property taxes and limit property reassessmen ...

in 1978. She has characterized her education up until 7th grade as "progressive" and "experimental"; in 7th grade Hensler began attending "Los Angeles' oldest and most conservative girls' prep school". She realized she was bisexual in her junior year of high school. Hensler attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

beginning in 1986, where she became involved in LGBT groups and activism on campus. She graduated in 1991.

Activism

Hensler's first forays into activism were in the 1980s, when she attended a march in support of the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...

. She later also attended a protest following Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984. She attended the 1987

Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was a large Demonstration (people), political rally that took place in Washington, D.C., on October 11, 1987. Around 750,000 people participated. Its success, size, scope, and hist ...

with a group of Brown University students. She was arrested for the first time during a protest in front of the Supreme Court several days after the march. In 2015, Hensler expressed support for ongoing black civil rights protests in California, comparing them to the activism she had participated in the 1990s.

HIV/AIDS activism

Hensler joined

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...

Los Angeles, and moved to San Francisco in August 1988, where she joined early meetings of ACT UP San Francisco. In October 1993, she participated in a protest at the

state capitol A capitol, or seat of government, is the building or complex of buildings from which a government such as that of a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, or the organized territories of the United States, exercises its authority. Although m ...

in an attempt to "deliver the ashes of AIDS victims to the governor's desk". She left the organization when new leaders that discouraged

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

testing and medications took over. By 1998, Hensler was involved with Mobilization Against AIDS.

Grief activism

She founded the social media and internet support group "Grief Beyond Belief" for grieving people who do not believe in

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

or an

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

in 2011. She was encouraged to found it by atheist activist

Greta Christina Greta Christina (born 1961) is an American atheist, blogger, speaker, and author. Early life Christina was born in Chicago in 1961. She graduated from Reed College in 1983. She legally changed her name in her twenties, dropping her family name ...

. Hensler's infant son, Nathaniel Judah Hensler, also called Jude, died in 2009 at 90 days due to a

congenital diaphragmatic hernia Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a birth defect of the diaphragm. The most common type of CDH is a Bochdalek hernia; other types include Morgagni hernia, diaphragm eventration and central tendon defects of the diaphragm. Malformation ...

. Hensler also published a book called ''The Secular Grief Support Handbook''.

Personal life

Hensler has a BA in political activism and a MS in counseling. She works as a school counselor at a public middle school in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and lives in the Bay Area with her wife, whom she married in 2013. In 2014, she was appointed dean of James Denman Middle School. Hensler has

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and is openly bisexual.

References

External links

Grief Beyond Belief website
Living people 1960s births Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century atheists 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women writers American activists with disabilities American atheism activists American bisexual writers American HIV/AIDS activists American writers with disabilities Bisexual women writers Brown University alumni LGBTQ people from California Members of ACT UP People with multiple sclerosis {{US-activist-stub