Jean V. Hardisty (June 18, 1945 – March 16, 2015) was a political scientist and lesbian radical feminist activist[1] who became a national resource for human rights movements seeking social and economic justice and an end to bigotry based on race, gender, or class.
She predicted a massive organized right-wing backlash which saw the rise of the New Right and the election of Ronald Reagan as President in 1980.
She then founded the think tank which became Political Research Associates in Massachusetts to study right-wing movements nationwide.
Her study "Constructing Homophobia" was included in her book Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers.
She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for Community Change and has been inducted into The City of Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.