Victoria Kirby York
Victoria Kirby York has been organizing in a variety of capacities for over 20 years at the federal, state, and local levels, but it wasn’t until two deaths in 2014 that her entire career trajectory changed. After getting involved with her local Black Lives Matter group following the police murder of Mike Brown and the suicide of transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, she realized her intersectional and faith-focused advocacy approach was necessary in order to heal the wounds left by white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ churches, as they have assisted in the untrue narrative that Black and LGBTQ+ lives aren’t as important to God. “Change is coming to push our nation to live into the promise of liberty and justice for all, and I am determined to help make it happen,” she tells GO. Currently, Kirby York is the Advocacy and Action Deputy Department Director at the National LGBTQ Task Force, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. In her role, she supports a staff of organizers, lawyers, and ministers who are fighting for queer inclusion in faith spaces, progressive equitable policies, and our democracy. “I approach organizing from a hopeful place … because I have seen time and time again people choose love over fear and each other’s humanity over prejudice,” she says. Before taking on this role, Kirby York served as the Florida Director for Organizing for Action (OFA), the nonprofit formed from President Obama’s electoral campaigns meant to support his legislative agenda. Kirby York also served as a member of the Human Rights Campaign’s National Diversity and Inclusion Council, the National Black Justice Coalition’s Leadership Advisory Council, and as a board member for the Center for Black Equity and the Next Generation Leadership Foundation. She also served as the first openly gay member of the Howard University Board of Trustees. —IL
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