Carmen Vázquez is an activist, writer and community intellectual. Currently, she is the Coordinator of the LGBT Health & Human Services Unit for the NYS AIDS Institute. She is the former Deputy Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda

Empire State Pride Agenda

The Empire State Pride Agenda is a statewide political advocacy organization in New York that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, including same-sex marriage. ESPA was founded in 1990 through the merger of the New York State Gay and Lesbian Lobby and the Friends and...

. She was the government and public policy director of the New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 LGBT Community Services Center

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population of New York City and nearby communities.- History :...

, a founding member of the New York State LGBT Health and Human Services Network, a board member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up. The Task Force is the country’s premier social justice organization fighting to improve the lives of LGBT people, and working to create positive, lasting...

, a board member of the Funding Exchange's OUT Fund and a Co-Chair of Equality Federation from 2004 - 2006 She was a founder of the Women's Building in San francisco and of Causes in Common, a national coalition of LGBT Liberation and Reproductive Justice Activists. She was honored by CUNY Law School with an honorary degree in 2004 and is a donor to the Sophia Smith Archives at Smith College which also houses her oral history for the Voices of Feminism project. Her essays have been published in several anthologies.

Openly

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

, Vázquez is in a committed relationship with Kelly Anderson, an oral historian and lecturer at Smith College. She lives in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

NY.