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Guillermo Vasquez Corner
Guillermo Vasquez Corner

Guillermo Vasquez, Photo Courtesy of and copyright held by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives.

Source

Photo by David Engelman, 2025

IMAGE DATE2025

Guillermo Vasquez (1953-1996) was a leading gay rights, AIDS, and Latino community activist in Queens who emigrated from Colombia in 1972. A member of Queens Gays and Lesbians United, Vasquez would go on to serve on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a statewide organization that advocated for LGBT rights. In 1993, he helped organize the first Queens Pride Parade as a member of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee and served as a translator for Spanish-speaking participants. Vasquez passed away due to AIDS-related complications in 1996.

The corner of 77th Street and Broadway was co-named “Guillermo Vasquez Corner” next to the site of the Love Boat, a former gay Latino bar where he educated the community about HIV/AIDS.

Sources:

Amanda Davis, "Guillermo Vasquez Corner," NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, 2018, https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/guillermo-vasquez-corner/

Breanna Bishop, “Jackson Heights street corner renamed after LGBT activist,” Metro, July 25, 2013, https://www.metro.us/jackson-heights-street-corner-renamed-after-lgbt-activist/

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