Rue Landau
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Rue Landau | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Philadelphia City Council from At-Large | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 20, 1969 |
| Spouse | Kerry Smith (m. 2014) |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of Delaware Temple University Beasley School of Law |
| Website | Campaign |
Ruthellen "Rue" Landau (born February 20, 1969) is an American politician and activist. She is a member of the Philadelphia City Council from At-Large after winning one of the seven At Large Seats in the 2023 election. She is the first openly LGBT person elected to the Philadelphia City Council.[1][2][3]
Landau was born on February 20, 1969, in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania to Myron "Mike" and Dorothy "Dosty" Landau along with her identical twin sister, Suzanne. She also has an older brother named Rich. Landau is Jewish and grew up with one parent from a Conservative background and one parent from a Reform background.[4] She attended the University of Delaware where she had first came out. She decided to move to the Gayborhood in Philadelphia. She volunteered with ACT UP, an AIDS activist organization and then also with the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a housing activists group. She decided to go to Law School at the Temple University Beasley School of Law and serve as a housing activist.[2]
Pre-political career
After graduating from Temple, she spent a decade at Community Legal Services to help prevent Philadelphians in cases of evictions and to help locate housings for families. She was then appointed as the director of the Commission on Human Relations, as well as the Commission of the Fair Housing Commission for the City of Philadelphia. She challenged local government like the Philadelphia Housing Authority to create fairer laws and conditions for Philadelphia families.[5]
She served as a Committeeperson in the Second Ward for the Democratic Party of Philadelphia.[6]
