Rebecca Hensler

Rebecca Hensler (born 1969) is an American educator, LGBTQ+ activist and founder of secular grief-support community Grief Beyond Belief.

Early life and education Hensler was born in the city of Los Angeles, and spent her childhood and teenage years there. Her mother Deborah Hensler, currently the Judge John W. Ford Professor of Dispute Resolution at Stanford Law School, worked at the RAND Corporation during Hensler's childhood. She and her brother attended private school following the passing of Proposition 13 in 1978. She has characterized her education up until 7th grade as "progressive" and "experimental"; in 7th grade Hensler began attending "Los Angeles' oldest and most conservative girls' prep school". She realized she was bisexual in her junior year of high school.

Hensler attended Brown University beginning in 1986, where she became involved in LGBT groups and activism on campus.

HIV/AIDS activism Hensler joined ACT UP Los Angeles, and moved to San Francisco in August 1988, where she joined early meetings of ACT UP San Francisco. She left the organization when new leaders that discouraged HIV testing and medications took over.

By 1998, Hensler was involved with Mobilization Against AIDS.

Grief activism She founded the social media and internet support group "Grief Beyond Belief" for grieving people who do not believe in God or an afterlife in 2011. She was encouraged to found it by atheist activist Greta Christina. Hensler also published a book called The Secular Grief Support Handbook.

Personal life Hensler has a BA in political activism and a MS in counseling. She works as a school counselor at a public middle school in San Francisco, and lives in the Bay Area with her wife, whom she married in 2013. and is openly bisexual.