Queens, NY
United States
77th Street & Broadway Guillermo Vasquez Corner since 27 July 2013
one name
Colombian-born Guillermo Vasquez immigrated to the United States in 1972 to study international law and political science at Pace and Columbia universities. A long-time resident of Jackson Heights, Queens, Vasquez was a leading advocate for the borough’s Latino community and was instrumental in pushing for LGBT visibility in Queens. A member of Queens Gays and Lesbians United (Q-GLU), Vasquez worked with the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (now the New York City Anti-Violence Project), and served on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a statewide organization that advocated for LGBT rights. In 1993, as a member of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee, he helped organize the first Queens Pride Parade and served as a translator for Spanish-speaking participants.

During the early years of the AIDS crisis, the New York City Department of Health cited Jackson Heights, Queens, as the neighborhood with the greatest concentration of at-risk gay Latinos. In order to spread awareness to this community, Vasquez founded the Latino Commission on AIDS and the U.S. Colombian SIDA/AIDS Foundation. He was also the coordinator of community outreach for the GMHC (Gay Men's Health Crisis) and spent many evenings educating people about HIV/AIDS, most often at a gay Latino bar called the Love Boat at the corner of 77th Street and Broadway in Elmhurst. On July 27, 2013, seventeen years after Vasquez’s death from AIDS-related complications, this intersection was co-named in honor of Guillermo Vasquez.

Photo © NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project (Former site of the Love Boat bar at 77-02 Broadway, Queens).
https://www.facebook.com/1688018898140464/posts/colombian-born-guillermo-vasquez-immigrated-to-the-united-states-in-1972-to-stud/2702763176666026/

27 July 2020
NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, New York City