Kruse is a former Illinois lobbyist on a range of women's, LGBT and progressive causes. She is now based in Washington, D.C., but maintains a home with her partner Sherri Moses in Chicago. She is a lobbyist for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, working to overturn the military's anti-gay policy. She has volunteered for and supported numerous causes, including Mountain Moving Coffeehouse, the Illinois Governor's Commission on the Status of Women, Women Against War, GLSEN, LCCP, Equality Illinois, HRC, NGLTF and the ACLU.