Urvashi Vaid
| Urvashi Vaid | |
|---|---|
| Born |
8 October 1958 New Delhi |
| Residence |
Manhattan, New York; Provincetown, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Vassar College; Northeastern University School of Law |
| Known for | Civil rights and anti-war activism |
| Notable work(s) | Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (1996) |
| Home town | New Delhi |
| Partner(s) | Kate Clinton |
Urvashi Vaid (born 8 October 1958 in New Delhi, India) is an Indian-American LGBT rights activist.
Political activism
Vaid was born in New Delhi, and moved to the United States at age eight with her family. At age 11, she participated in the anti-Vietnam war movement.[1] At Vassar College, she was active in a variety of political and social causes. She received a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston in 1983, where she founded the Boston Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, a non-partisan political organization that interviews and endorses candidates for political office and advocates for Boston's gay community.[1]
Vaid believes that true liberation of lesbians and gays from injustice will only occur when the larger institutions of society and the family are transformed through lesbians and gays working within mainstream groups for inclusion and change.[2] Her book Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (1995), which won a Stonewall Book Award in 1996,[3] addresses her beliefs about mainstreaming.
Vaid became Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1989.[4] She pushed gay issues into the public eye through coordinated media manipulation and staged numerous protests on such subjects as abortion and the Persian Gulf War. Vaid went on hiatus from the NGLTF between 1992 and 1997; it was during this period that she wrote Virtual Equality. When she resumed work at the NGLTF, she served for an additional three years as the executive director.
Vaid worked for five years at the Ford Foundation, and served as Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation[5] from 2005 through 2010.
Vaid has served on the board of the Gill Foundation since 2004.[6]
In April 2009 Out magazine named her one of the 50 most influential LGBT people in the United States.[7]
Vaid shares homes in Manhattan and Provincetown, Massachusetts with her partner, comedian Kate Clinton.[8]
Works
- Vaid, Urvashi (1996). Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation. Anchor Books, Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-47298-6.
- Vaid, Urvashi; John D'Emilio, William B. Turner (2002). Creating Change: Sexuality, Public Policy, and Civil Rights. Stonewall Inn Editions. ISBN 0-312-28712-7.
- Vaid, Urvashi (2011). Dan Savage and Terry Miller, ed. It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living. Dutton. ISBN 0525952330.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Urvashi Vaid Biography". American Immigration Law Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ↑ "The Politics of Intersection". Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ↑ "Stonewall Book Awards". American Library Association. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ↑ "Urvashi Vaid to Join Arcus". Arcus Foundation. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ↑ "Board and Staff". ArcusFoundation.org. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
- ↑ "Urvashi Vaid". GillFoundation.org. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
- ↑ "Power 50: Urvashi Vaid". Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- ↑ "Urvashi Vaid". glbtq.com. 2005-12-21. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Urvashi Vaid at the Internet Movie Database
- Laura Flanders (23 December 2010). "Urvashi Vaid: We Need Progressive, Multi-Issue Movements". GRITtv. Free Speech TV. http://blip.tv/grittv/grittv-urvashi-vaid-we-need-progressive-multi-issue-movements-4569390. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- Works by or about Urvashi Vaid in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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