Gloria Casarez (December 13, 1971 – October 19, 2014) was an American civil rights leader born in Philadelphia.
In 2008, Casarez became Philadelphia's first director of LGBTQ Affairs. In this role, she led initiatives that improved housing, access to healthcare, and workplace protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. She helped establish Philadelphia as a national model for inclusivity and equity and the city earned the top ranking for LGBT equality in the nation.
Casarez also worked on issues such as anti-poverty efforts, women's rights, HIV/AIDS prevention, homelessness, and youth outreach. She died in 2014 at the age of 42 from metastatic breast cancer.
Early life and activism Casarez was born at Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia and raised Catholic. She spent her early years living with her mom in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, attending Sheridan Elementary School. Later, she moved to the Westmont section of Haddon Township, New Jersey, to live with her great-aunt and great-uncle, where she graduated from Haddon Township High School in 1989. At the age of 17, Casarez came out as a lesbian, marking the beginning of her lifelong journey as an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
Casarez attended West Chester University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1993. During her time there, she was involved in student government and political activism. She served as President of the Latino Student Union and represented the university on the Commission on the Status of Women, a statewide network addressing women's issues on campus. Casarez was also recognized as a William G. Rohrer Scholar, highlighting her academic and leadership achievements.
In 2005, Casarez furthered her education by completing an Executive Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, enhancing her skills and expertise in organizational leadership and advocacy.
Civil rights and community organizing leadership Early advocacy and leadership in LGBTQ+ and social justice movements
From 1991 to 1996, Casarez was a founding member and community organizer for Empty the Shelters, a national student- and youth-led organization advocating for housing rights and economic justice. In Philadelphia, she collaborated with local movements such as the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Union of the Homeless. Casarez played a key role in developing and organizing student engagement initiatives, including the Summer of Social Action and Spring Break for a Change, which mobilized students on campuses nationwide to participate in social justice efforts.
From 1995 to 1998, Casarez served as the Program Coordinator for the LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the nation's oldest and most active centers of its kind. In this role, she developed innovative mentorship programs and initiatives specifically designed to support LGBTQ+ students of color, transgender students, and queer students on campus.
At the age of 27, Casarez became the executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI) in Philadelphia, a position she held from 1999 to 2008. Under her leadership, GALAEI's funding tripled, and the organization launched groundbreaking programs that gained national recognition. These included Philadelphia's first mobile HIV testing centers and the Trans-health Information Project, the city's first health initiative focused on transgender individuals. Casarez's work at GALAEI significantly expanded services for men of color and transgender communities.
Community organizing and leadership
Casarez's work demonstrated a continuing interest in constituent led and community organizing efforts, starting with her early participation in social justice and political action movements. An early advocate of harm reduction, Casarez co-chaired the board of directors for Prevention Point Philadelphia, Philadelphia's only syringe exchange, from 1999 to 2003.
She served as a longtime board member and leader of the Bread and Roses Community Fund, a public foundation that supports grassroots organizations working for racial and economic justice. Casarez served as an inaugural member of the Fund's Jonathan Lax Scholarship Committee from 2001 until her death in 2014. Bread & Roses Executive Director Casey Cook recalled Casarez as a fierce agent for real change. "Bread & Roses is just one among many communities enriched by Gloria's leadership, courage, and strength," said Casey. "Gloria will be remembered at Bread & Roses as an extraordinary organizer, a brilliant strategist, and a committed board member," said Denise Brown, Bread & Roses board co-chair. "Gloria embodied the mission and intention of this organization with equal parts fierceness and humility."
Casarez was a member of the LGBT Research Community Advisory Board of Public Health Management Corporation.Casarez served as an ex-officio member for the Philadelphia LGBT Police Liaison Committee since 2008, working with community leaders and police officials to address LGBT public-safety issues, and taking part in LGBT-sensitivity training sessions for incoming Philadelphia police officers. Casarez was a founding board member of the LGBT Elder Initiative started in 2010. Casarez served on the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau's PHL Diversity board.
She was also a founder of the Philadelphia Dyke March, Mr. Philadelphia Drag King, and the House of (Manolo) Blahnik Board of Directors.
In April 2013, Casarez engaged in Latino community organizing efforts to save La Milagrosa, Philadelphia's first Spanish-speaking church. Casarez's great-grandparents helped establish the church in the early 1900s.
Establishment of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs Starting in the mid-1980s, successive Philadelphia mayors created various boards and commissions to focus on the needs of sexual minority and LGBT communities. In 1984, Mayor Wilson Goode established the first Philadelphia Commission on Sexual Minorities, appointing Darlene Garner as its executive director. David Acosta, founder of GALAEI, became the first Latino appointed to the commission. In 1990, Oscar Garcia-Vera was named co-chair of the Commission under Mayor Goode and continued in this role during Mayor Ed Rendell's tenure. In 2001, Mayor John F. Street formed a 15-member board to advise him on LGBT issues, mirroring Mayor Goode's commission. From 2001 to 2008, Michael Hinson Jr. served as the Assistant Managing Director under Mayor Street and as the liaison to the LGBT community.
In 2008, Casarez made history when Mayor Michael Nutter appointed her as Philadelphia's first Director of LGBT Affairs. Mayor Nutter established the Office of LGBT Affairs by executive order that same year. This appointment marked the first time a salaried position within the Mayor's Office was dedicated to serving the LGBT community directly from Philadelphia City Hall. At the press conference announcing her appointment, Casarez vowed to "represent the community with authenticity, integrity, and respect."
Casarez led the efforts of the Mayor's Office of LGBT Affairs and the Mayor's advisory board from 2008 until her death in 2014. In her role, Casarez developed priorities for the city on public safety, education, economic development, health, city services, and civil rights. The Office of LGBT Affairs worked to ensure equitable working and living conditions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, advocating for LGBT issues across all areas of city government. In 2012, Philadelphia earned the second-highest ranking nationwide for LGBT equality in the inaugural edition of the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index, ranking first among the ten largest U.S. cities and the highest among cities without statewide legal protections for LGBT people.
In 2015, the Office of LGBT Affairs became a permanent part of the city's charter after being ratified by Philadelphia voters. Mayor Nutter expressed pride in Casarez's legacy, saying, "When I became mayor, I was proud to establish the Mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Affairs and appoint the late Gloria Casarez as its first director. Making this office permanent under the City of Philadelphia charter ensures that the LGBT community will continue to be represented in city government, and that the good work done to advance LGBT issues over the last seven years will carry on well into the future."
Under Casarez's leadership, Philadelphia enacted the most comprehensive LGBT rights protections in the nation when Mayor Nutter signed Bill No. 130224 into law. She served as Director of LGBT Affairs until her death in October 2014.
Honors and impact In 1999, Out Magazine named Casarez one of the "100 Most Influential Leaders of the New Millennium." She also received the Philadelphia Out Proud Award and served as the 2001 Philadelphia LGBT Pride Grand Marshal.
Casarez was honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) with the Annual Community Service Award in recognition of her social and political justice activism. Her work supporting LGBT ballroom communities earned her the Humanitarian Award at the House of Prestige's 20th Anniversary Renaissance Ball and the Community Service Award at the House of Blahnik Ball.
She was also recognized by Philadelphia FIGHT with the Kiyoshi Kuromiya Award for Justice and by the Philadelphia Bar Association with the Cheryl Ingram Advocate for Justice Award. Casarez received the Hero Award from the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund, joining past honorees such as gay rights pioneer Barbara Gittings and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. In 2013, the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI) honored her with the David Acosta Revolutionary Leader Award.
National and local media outlets recognized Casarez's contributions as well. Go Magazine included her in "100 Women We Love" and featured her as a "Woman at the Helm." Philadelphia Magazine included her in its "Who's Who of Philly's Gay Community." Philly Gay Calendar selected her as the 2009 "Person of the Year," and she received the Philadelphia Leadership Award from Women's eNews. The Metropolitan Community Church presented her with the Patron of Humanity Award at their 40th Anniversary Convocation Service, and in 2010, Dignity USA honored her with a Community Service Award.
Casarez also made history in Philadelphia sports: she threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Citizens Bank Park before a Philadelphia Phillies game against the Houston Astros on August 23, 2010. In 2012, Casarez was inducted into West Chester University’s Legacy of Leadership. She was named the Philadelphia Pride Grand Marshal in both 2001 and 2014.