Carmen Vázquez


Carmen Vázquez is an activist, writer and community intellectual.

Early life and family

The oldest of seven children, Carmen Vázquez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Harlem. She attended the City University of New York, earning a Bachelors in English and a Masters in Education.

Career and activism

After graduating, Vázquez moved to San Francisco where she lived and worked for almost two decades, becoming a leading activist in causes ranging from immigrant rights to lesbian health.
While in San Francisco, Vázquez co-founded The Women's Building, became the Executive Director of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and then the Coordinator of Lesbian and Gay Health Services for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She was also the co-founder and co-chair of Somos Hermanas, a Central American Women's Solidarity Network.
She returned to New York City in 1994 where she has continued her activist work as Director of Public Policy for the LGBT Community Center, as Deputy Director for Empire State Pride Agenda and in her current post as Coordinator of the LGBT Health and Human Services Unit of the AIDS Institute, New York Department of Health.
She was the government and public policy director of the New York City LGBT Community Services Center, 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, 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 Causes in Common, a national coalition of LGBT Liberation and Reproductive Justice Activists.
She was honored by CUNY School of Law with an honorary degree in 2004. Her essays have been published in several anthologies. Carmen has served on the Advisory Council of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation since its founding in 2003 and currently serves as the Co-Chairperson of the Board of Directors. She lives in Brooklyn NY.

Writings and bibliography

Some of her work regarding liberation is published in conmoción, a Latina lesbian magazine created in part by tatiana de la tierra to build a platform for Latina lesbian conversation and visibility.