Marcia Pally

Pally was raised in Elmhurst, Queens. She received her early education at the Solomon Schechter School of Queens.[2] She earned a B.Sc. in Human Ecology from Cornell University in 1971,[3] and an M.F.A. in choreography [4] from the University of California, Los Angeles.[5][6] In 1995, Pally earned a doctorate (Ed.D.) from New York University.[7]

Following her career as a dancer and choreographer,[8][9][10] Pally worked as a columnist, and a dance and film critic[11] in Europe[12] and the United States,[13] and as a prominent activist for gay and lesbian rights,[14][15] and an advocate for women's rights and freedom of expression.[16]

In 1985, Pally became one of the founders,[17][18] and original board members of GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, an organization formed to protest against homophobic coverage of AIDS in the media,[19] and served as acting chair. Pally's tenure as acting chair was contentious, and led to the resignation of several board members, as well as to criticism of Pally's "supposed foray into heterosexuality", and to an assertion that she was unsuitable to hold a position of leadership in the organization due to her alleged refusal to identify as a lesbian. Pally categorically denied the allegations, describing them as "ludicrous"[20]

In 1992, Pally founded the advocacy group Feminists for Free Expression (FFE)[21][22] and served as president of the organization,[23][24] which primarily advocated for the First Amendment right to publish pornography.[25] Pally's involvement with FFE coincided with her tenure as film critic and contributing editor for Penthouse.[26][27] During that period, Pally also published two books on censorship: Sense and Censorship: The Vanity of the Bonfires, and Sex & Sensibility: Reflections on Forbidden Mirrors and the Will to Censor.[28]

After earning a doctorate (Ed.D.) from New York University[29] in 1995, Pally embarked upon an academic career.

Marcia Pally teaches at New York University (adjunct),[30] at Fordham University,[31] and is a regular guest professor at the Theology Faculty of Humboldt University zu Berlin.[32] Her most recent books are Commonwealth and Covenant: Economics, Politics, and Theologies of Relationality (Eerdmans, 2016)[33] and The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good[34] (in German: Die neuen Evangelikalen: Freiheitsgewinne durch fromme Politik).[35] Pally's research interests include religion, culture, and politics as well as the intersection of language and culture.

Commonwealth and Covenant has been selected by the United Nations Committee on Education for Justice “to be distributed in their materials to “educators, academics, policy-makers, parents, students, teacher training institutes, and curriculum developers throughout the world” and it was nominated for a Grawemeyer Award in religion.

Pally spoke at the World Economic Forum[36] in 2010 and has been awarded the prestigious Mercator Guest Professorship (German Research Foundation)[37] as well as grants from the German Academic Exchange Service, from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Telos/Paul Piccone Institute. In addition, she is the co-recipient of a German Research Foundation grant to compare the political ethics and activism of American and German evangelicals, the only study of its kind.

In 2007 and 2010, she was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).[38]

In addition to her academic work Pally has been a columnist in the U.S. and Europe for over 30 years, writing for both mainstream publications such as The Washington Post[39] as well as special-interest magazines like The Advocate.[40]

• Mimesis and Sacrifice: Applying Girard's Mimetic Theory Across the Disciplines
• Commonwealth and Covenant: Economics, Politics, and Theologies of Relationality
• The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good
• Lob der Kritik : warum die Demokratie nicht auf ihren Kern verzichten darf. Berliner Taschenbuch-Verl. ISBN 3833301376.
• Die hintergründige Religion: der Einfluss des Evangelikalismus auf Gewissensfreiheit, Pluralismus und die US-amerikanische Politik
• Warnung vor dem Freunde : Tradition und Zukunft US-amerikanischer Aussenpolitik (Orig.-ausg ed.). Parthas. ISBN 3866016018.
• Sex & Sensibility: Reflections on Forbidden Mirrors and the Will to Censor
• Sustained content teaching in academic ESL/EFL : a practical approach (1st ed.). Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395960762.

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBTQ people from New York City

• Official website