Gay History Month: Urvashi Vaid
Urvashi Vaid is an openly lesbian civil rights activist and attorney. She has dedicated herself to pursuing equal rights for LGBT persons for over 25 years.
Vaid was born in New Delhi, India in 1956. She immigrated to the United States at age 8.
In the United States, Vaid excelled in her studies. She graduated high school in 3 years and attended Vassar College in New York. She graduated from Vassar in 1979 and received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1983.
Vaid took over as Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1989. After taking a hiatus to work on a book in the mid ’90s, she returned as Policy Institute Think-Tank Director of the NGLTF and served under the title for three years. She then worked for the New York City -based Ford Foundation from 2000 to 2005.
She currently serves as Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation since 2005. She resides in Manhattan and Provincetown, Massachusetts with her partner, comedian Kate Clinton.
