From the Lincy Institute "Perspectives from the COVID-19 Pandemic" Oral History Project (MS-01178) -- Community organization interviews file.

Dennis McBride interviews Eddie Anderson (born 1946) about his role in advocating for LGBT rights, specifically his participation in the various political and social movements during previous decades. The interview begins with a discussion of Anderson’s background, including his experiences growing up in children’s homes and living with his grandparents. Anderson mentions marching with his grandparents for both workers’ and women’s rights as some of his first political involvements. Anderson also discusses his original aspirations for becoming a priest as well as his memories of meeting President John F. Kennedy during a visit to his high school when Anderson was student body president. Anderson then discusses travelling to the South, specifically in Selma, Alabama, during one summer while in high school in order to help register Black voters. Anderson then discusses his friendship with Nevada Senator Bill Raggio and his wife, and his joining of the U.S. Navy, where he met President Ri

Session 1: Interviewed by Marcela Rodriguez-Campo. Barbara Tabach also participates in the questioning. Session 2: Interviewed by Rodrigo Vazquez. Monserrath Hernandez also participates in the questioning. Patricia Vazquez was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and shares her experiences growing up in the Valley as a Queer Latina. At a young age, she remembers traveling back and forth between Mexico and the U.S. to visit family. When she started school she shares how her home language, Spanish, became her family's "secret language" as she began to learn English. During elementary school Patricia was tracked into the special education program, and remove from the mainstream classroom. She would find her love for learning in books and libraries as she taught herself how to read in English. Despite being tracked into less advanced courses, Patricia would end up taking AP/ Honors courses in high school after forging her favorite teachers signature, which changed her educational trajectory. After coming out to her family, Patricia went nearly a decade distanced from her mother and continued her college education at Arizona State University. There, she would complete a bachelors in painting and a masters in comparative literature. Her work with the Chicano Studies program at ASU helped her develop her Chicana identity and begin her involvement in social activism. In Las Vegas, she worked to fight for marriage equality and LGBTQ rights with the American Civil Liberties Union , and later with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. She also conducted several lectures for the Latino Youth Leadership Conference on sexuality, gender, and homophobia for over a decade. She has served as an English Professor at the College of Southern Nevada for the last 20 years and is an avid hiker, traveler, and painter.