URVASHI VAID

VAID--Urvashi. The American Civil Liberties Union mourns the loss of Urvashi Vaid, who died on May 14, 2022 at age 63. Urvashi started her incredible career in advocacy as a lawyer with the ACLU's National Prison Project, where she initiated our work for people living with HIV in prisons and jails. She went on to become a member of the national ACLU's board of directors and served as a treasured advisor to the ACLU for the rest of her life. Urvashi was a leader on LGBTQ rights, racial justice, gender justice, and criminal justice reform. She was executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force and the Arcus Foundation, was a senior leader at the Ford Foundation, and wrote groundbreaking books that mapped out a progressive path for the LGBTQ movement. Her "Talk Is Cheap, AIDS Funding Is Not" sign at a 1990 George H.W. Bush speech on AIDS epitomizes her fearless focus on securing justice for those most marginalized. We benefited so much from her insights, her tenacity, and her insistence that our work seek a more just society for everyone. The memory of her fierce advocacy will long endure and will continue to inspire the work of the ACLU. We extend our deepest sympathies to Kate Clinton and her entire family.