This is the former home of

Sol’s Pages: A Young Activist’s Scrapbook

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of people have visited these pages to learn about the activism of Sol Kelley-Jones of Madison, Wisconsin and her advocacy on behalf of her lesbian family, and all families in all forms. Sol, soon about to turn 20, has been speaking out and taking action since at least the age of 10, when her testimony at a Wisconsin state legislative hearing made headlines statewide. Since then, she’s developed LGBT-affirming curricula, spoken to audiences from coast-to-coast, appeared on countless broadcasts and in numerous news stories, been featured in books, founded an LGBT-affirming theater company and a support group for children of LGBT parents, and much, much more….

Formerly housed at this address is a web page presence that her uncle, John Quinlan, a gay Madison community leader and journalist created for her and administered. While it was Sol’s story, one which has inspired and influenced many other activists of all ages and backgrounds, it was a story that was often told in the third person, because Sol was so busy taking action and speaking out against injustice that she didn’t have the time herself to update a website.

Sol is now a college student at a small school in Massachusetts, and, as an adult, is embarking on new adventures and life discoveries. She continues to study and make contributions to the movement for LGBT rights, civil rights for all people, and other social justice movements. However, as she moves into this new realm, it’s especially important that she now be in a position to tell her own story, in her own words, and on her own terms.

And so, for now, we’re retiring this website, and archiving its contents. You can trust, though, that this isn’t the last you’ve heard from Sol.

In the meantime, since this site has been a place where old friends and colleagues have sometimes renewed contact, please contact me, John Quinlan (Sol’s Uncle John), by writing to quinlanjohnl (at) aol.com if you have an urgent need to make contact.

And for those of you who have followed Sol and her long activist career, who want to hear about her past and future work as told in her own voice (for example, whether it be through a blog, or a future book), feel free to write to that address, and I’ll keep your email on a list, and send you an update as events warrant.

And, so, a few months short of a decade in existence, and after hundreds of thousands of hits from every state and every continent in the world, we close this chapter of Sol’s presence on the worldwide web. We’re thankful for the thousands of you have reached out to Sol over the years, and for your loving expressions of support.

As someone once said, for now, goodbye and good luck!

John Quinlan

Madison, Wisconsin

October 24, 2006

On behalf of Sol and her family