Beth Kelly is an American political theorist, feminist, and pedophile activist. Kelly is a professor of Women's and Gender Studies and presently serves as director of the department of Irish Studies at DePaul University. From 1997 to 2003, Kelly served as director of the department of Women's and Gender Studies at DePaul, and was a founder of DePaul's LGBT studies program. Since March 2010, Kelly has been chairperson of the Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues, one of eight advisory councils to the Commission on Human Relations for the City of Chicago. Kelly received her PhD from Rutgers University.