“Urvashi was a trailblazer, a true leader and an inspiration to all she touched.
– Imani Rupert-Gordon, NCLR Executive Director
She changed the world, she changed the movement,
and on a personal note, she changed me.
Her influence is felt everytime we take a more intersectional approach to our work.
She will be missed by us all, but her legacy will be felt forever.”
– Urvashi Vaid
To say our movement has lost a giant is an understatement. NCLR has had the honor to work beside and follow the larger-than-life lead of Urvashi Vaid for decades and, for this, we are always better and forever changed.
Urvashi, an attorney, activist, and writer, gave her life, her brilliance, and her passions to us all. A fierce and tireless gift to the LGBTQ movement, Urvashi showed us, time and again, how to be brave and clever and effective when fighting for social justice.
“For me, she was more than a queer icon. She was a colleague, mentor, and friend who supported my life’s work to make ending poverty a central issue of the LGBTQ movement. As a co-founder with NCLR of the LGBTQ Poverty Collaborative and The National LGBTQ Anti-Poverty Action Network, she understood and organized based on the notion that queer and trans liberation includes economic justice for all.” – Tyrone Hanley, NCLR Director of Racial & Economic Justice Initiatives
“Urvashi Vaid has left an indelible impact on multiple movements and everyone who knew her. Her unequivocal demands for true liberation for queer people and true justice for those harmed by entrenched racism marked us all. We honor her voice and legacy by fiercely engaging in this unfinished effort.” – Kate Kendell, Former NCLR Executive Director
Our love and strength is with Kate Clinton, Urvashi’s longtime partner and NCLR’s forever friend.
To honor Urvashi’s legacy, NCLR will be planting a tree in the National AIDS Memorial Grove at Pride in the Park on June 18, 2022. For more details, contact Jennifer Bing at Jbing@nclrights.org
