Transcripts

KATHLEEN HALLINAN: Nearly six years have passed since the twist in Karen Thompson's quiet life as a physical education instructor. Back then, Thompson says, she taught, coached, and shared a closeted lesbian relationship with Sharon Kowalski. Following the accident, Thompson had to make some tough choices. By nature, she considered herself a quiet and private person, but she told Kowalski's parents that she and their daughter were lovers.

Donald Kowalski denied such a relationship, and in exercising his guardianship power, barred Thompson from seeing his daughter. Thompson then sought legal advice and began educating herself on human rights issues. She says her growing knowledge, and her drive to protect Kowalski's rights, led her into a role which she was unsure about.

KAREN THOMPSON: I really rebelled at that in the beginning. My private life should be my private life. It should have been Sharon's and my private life. And I didn't think that I should have had to come out and to speak out to try to protect our rights. I felt that they should have already been protected.

And while some parts of me still wish that I could step back and drop out of sight again, I now understand that people must see us. People are afraid of what they don't know and don't understand. We're threatened by the unknown. And we as lesbians and gay men must come out.

KATHLEEN HALLINAN: Thompson says she began to form strong convictions on human rights issues through the support of prominent local activist Julie Andrzejewski, who recalls that Thompson was reluctant to associate with her.

JULIE ANDRZEJEWSKI: Karen was absolutely frightened to come and see me, because I was the type of person that she didn't really want to have anything to do with. I was an activist. I was a feminist. I supported causes that she didn't even know were problems.

KATHLEEN HALLINAN: Thompson now identifies herself as both an activist and a feminist, and the causes she supports are many. She speaks on gay rights, sexism, and racism, with the core of her activities revolving around disability rights. As Thompson's case has received media attention, she's gained the support of disability rights groups and gay activist groups, as well as a nationwide network called Free Sharon Kowalski. Thompson says she's been invited to speak all over the country. She's even served as grand marshal of New York City's gay pride parade.

KAREN THOMPSON: There's nothing special about me that has prepared me for this. I'm just an everyday human being who, when you get back to the wall, when you get shoved hard enough and people take away from you everything that's ever been important to you, everything that's of value to you, you either give up and you die or you fight back.

So for very selfish reasons, I fought back for my happiness, for everything that was important to me and of value to me. And people have tried to make it sound like I'm some kind of a hero or some kind of-- that I'm so courageous. And I don't think it's courage, necessarily. As I said, it was self-preservation. It was for survival.

KATHLEEN HALLINAN: Last February, Thompson's efforts were, in part, rewarded. Against the wishes of Donald Kowalski, the courts moved his daughter from a nursing home to Duluth's Miller-Dwan hospital for rehabilitation, ruling that she could also choose her own visitors. Thompson was allowed to visit Kowalski after three and a half years of separation.

KAREN THOMPSON: I don't think Sharon recognized me at first. My hair is curly now, and it was straight then. So she looked at me and then I just asked her, I said, are you telling me you don't recognize me after all this time? You don't who I am? And Sharon just immediately got tears in her eyes, and she just was very moved, which completely broke me down.

KATHLEEN HALLINAN: Thompson says she now has full visitation rights with Kowalski, which Kowalski's parents continue to contest. Thompson says there was a time when she would have settled for that. But her quest has turned her into a nationally-known activist, and she says the larger issues still need her attention.

KAREN THOMPSON: I can't quit being an activist. If this had happened, that I would have regained visitation rights with Sharon three years ago, then I would have spent all of my time teaching and being with Sharon, and now I can't. Now I want to spend quality time with Sharon. I want to spend as much time as I can with her, but I can't quit traveling and speaking. There are issues that we must address. There are things that must be done. And I certainly have learned that if I'm not willing to stand up and fight for my own rights and the rights of others, who's going to do it?

KATHLEEN HALLINAN: Thompson says her outlook is positive, but the price has been high. Virtually every aspect of her life has been publicized and she says she misses her privacy. But then the activist in her takes over and Thompson forges ahead. In Collegeville, I'm Kathleen Hallinan.