Mary Elizabeth Clark

Who is Mary Elizabeth Clark?

Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark is the main mover of the AIDS Education and Global Information System database, previously a pre-World Wide Web bulletin board system.

Clark was born as Michael Clark, and served as a United States Navy chief petty officer, serving as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare. She later underwent a sex change operation and became Joanna Clark; knowing of her past, a U.S. Army Reserves recruiter signed her up for the Army. A year-and-a-half later she was discharged from the Army when her history became known to higher-ups. She brought suit against the Army and won a settlement of $25,000 and an honorable discharge.

During the 1970s, she was an activist for the rights of transsexuals and was instrumental in winning the right of Californians to have their gender changed on their birth-certificates and driver's licenses. In 1980, she founded and led the ACLU Transsexual Rights Committee.

In the 1980s, she felt a religious calling and worked to become an Episcopal nun.