This both takes away from the universality of their work and slots them in the category of something alien, ethereal almost – that you almost need to be built with steel to simply defend your rights and those around you. Often, the noun that is bravery is used as an adjective to describe activists such as Vaid. That’s how Urvashi always made me/us so proud,” Kunreuther added. “I just remember all these southern het couples going silent and just staring at us. Frances Kunreuther, who served as executive director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute for gay and lesbian youth, recounted a stunning incident when they were dining at an upscale Manhattan restaurant in the heart of the AIDS crisis when queer folks were targeted – when she stood up and said loudly that she has always defended gay men’s sexual liberation and no sex with children. As with all the masters of activism who think and act with precision, Vaid was a champion of sexual liberation – not mindlessly but with a grit that was all too rare.
