James A. Gay III was born March 6th, 1916 in Fordyce, Arkansas. Arriving in 1946, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.

As an advocate for the gay community in Nevada, Daniel Hinkley has been involved with ACT-UP!– Nevada, served as executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Las Vegas, and in 2001 founded the Stonewall Democrats of Southern Nevada. Hinkley was also involved in the fight to repeal Nevada’s sodomy law in 1993, and, between 2000 and 2002, he was involved with the gay community’s unsuccessful fight against Question 2, which amended Nevada's constitution to prevent same-sex marriage.