Rea Carey (born December 22, 1966) is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

activist and served as the executive director of the

National LGBTQ Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...

(previously the

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...

) from 2008 to 2021. She previously served as the organization's deputy executive director and was the founding executive director of the

National Youth Advocacy Coalition The National Youth Advocacy Coalition, or NYAC, which ceased to operate on May 12, 2011, was an organization which sought to fight discrimination against and promote the leadership and wellness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer an ...

Personal

Carey grew up in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, and came out at the age of 16, near the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, which prompted her early activism. Carey graduated from Smith College in the 1980s and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. She lives in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, with her wife, Margaret Conway, and daughter.

Career

Carey began her career working extensively in HIV/AIDS prevention and in the LGBT community as one of the co-founders of Gay Men and Lesbians Opposing Violence and the founding executive director of the

. She also served as an advisor to major donors and foundations, and has served on the advisory boards for such wide-ranging publications as

Teen People ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...

magazine and the Georgetown University Journal of Gender and the Law. In 1999, The Advocate named Carey one of its "Best and Brightest" for individual contributions to the LGBT rights movement. Carey joined the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 2004 as deputy executive director, has served as executive director since 2008. She was one of 105 women arrested on 2013 during an act of civil disobedience designed to pressure the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

to act on comprehensive immigration reform. Carey serves on the advisory board of the LGBTQ Policy Journal of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

References

External links

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Rea Living people American LGBT rights activists Place of birth missing (living people) 1966 births Harvard Kennedy School alumni Smith College alumni LGBT people from Colorado

Personal

Career

See also

References

External links