about me

Opal Gay is an artist and social psychologist committed to advancing health equity for Black, queer, and transgender people. They have collected years of experience as a community organizer and policy researcher, working with organizations such as The Feminist Majority Foundation, Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity (URGE), Southern Center for Human Rights, Black Futurists Group, The Legal Action Center, and Partnership for Southern Equity. 

They are an Assistant Professor in the Black Studies Department at City College of New York (CCNY), having published their research in esteemed academic journals such as Deviant Behavior, Psychology & Sexuality, Journal of Bisexuality, and The International Journal of Transgender Health. Their upcoming monograph, Black Sheep: Stigma, Power, and Black Nonbinary Identity, is under contract with Lexington Books to be published in 2027.

Opal presently serves on the editorial board of The Black Scholar, a journal which has served Black intellectuals, creatives, and activists since 1969. They are also a Sadler Scholar at The Hastings Center for Bioethics, a Health Policy Research Scholar with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a 2024 Peoples Response Fellow with The Movement for Black Lives.

Outside of their academic and advocacy work, Opal delights in being a poet and photographer, traveling, catching a movie at the theater, dancing, and spending quality time with their community.