The Activist & The Analyst

Fresno State computer analyst by day, social activist folk singer by night, Gail Abbott lives life the only way she knows how—her way

By Chhun Sun

At March’s Poetry Jam Production show, Gail Abbott strutted on stage with her guitar in hand, while the full crowd at the CoffeeHouse & Pub watched silently. Moments before, she was introduced as a special guest performer.

“She’s a folk singer,” the host announced, “who’s also a social activist.”

Abbott placed her guitar between her body and hands. Still soundless, intense faces watched her hands glide across her guitar. With a jut chin, a glint in her eyes and a slender smirk, she made a statement that allowed everyone to contort their faces to subtle laughter.

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention,” she explained, somewhat stroking her guitar. Later, she clarified the statement came from a license plate.

“In this day and age, there’s so much to be outraged about, unfortunately,” she said, and then surrendered to a genuine laughter, a gesture emanated weeks earlier when she was informed of news she conjured as a threat.

A computer analyst at Fresno State, Abbott does her work in a cubicle planted inside the McKee Fisk Building. One late-February morning, a co-worker approached her.

“Did you read this?” the co-worker asked, handing Abbott the morning’s newspaper. It had a headline explaining President Bush’s proposal to constitute marriage as a union between man and woman.

“Yesss!” Abbott said, gritting her teeth in a sarcastic manner.

But inside she was outraged.

Why? Simple—Abbott is in a same-sex relationship. She is disturbed about the potential effect it might have on her partner, and her adopted 13-year-old daughter.

“One of the things that drove me to be active politically is because I belong in a minority group who are not considered first class citizens,” the 55-year-old said. “That was the thing that drove me. If people don’t know that, then they’re not paying attention.”

With 19 years of experience working for the Information Technology Service, serving on the Commission for Human Relationship and Equity (an advisory group for the college president) and creating music for her folk trio, Distaff, Abbott lives life to make a difference—even if the effort is small or goes unnoticed.

Born in Windsor, Colo., Abbott moved to nearby Littleton at age 12, where she grew up in a humble household. Her parents had small jobs to compensate for her father’s farming, such as the sugar factory and post office.

“We weren’t poor, but we had enough money,” Abbott said. “Despite the craziness, we were a good family.”

But Abbott wanted more. She didn’t want to settle in a small town with small town dreams. The people in her town mostly traveled along the path of graduating high school, getting married and having children.

“I wanted more opportunities to do things, to explore music, to explore drama and different relationships,” Abbott said. “I knew I wanted to do more than resign myself.”

In 1966, at age 18, Abbott began attending Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., where her perspective changed and she started to make sense of her life.

She developed a love for folk music and a passion for playing her guitar, all during a time when folk music was popular and used as a weapon against civil rights issues.

Friends began calling her the Joan Baez of Durango, a reference to the popular folk musician at the time who challenged civil rights issues. She honored the comparison.

A few years after graduating college with a music degree, Abbott met her partner and they have been together for 25 years. The couple had an appointment with the county clerk for a marriage license on May 3, but, due to the Supreme Court looming decision to whether issue licenses to gay couples or not, the arrangement was canceled.

But Abbott continues to fight.

“I believe there will be enough people on the planet that are in support of human rights. We’re going to come around, that’s the core belief. If I didn’t have that belief, I would be in utter despair,” Abbott said, proudly.