Lauren Cazares

Hon. Lauren Cazares is the Vice Mayor of the City of La Mesa and Associate Director of Political Affairs at Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. A proud lesbian woman of Mexican-American heritage, she is the first and only openly LGBTQ+ municipal-level elected official in Eastern San Diego County and a dedicated advocate for equality and representation. Lauren has advanced LGBTQ+ rights at the local, state, and national levels, serving as Interim Executive Director and Board Chair of the Religious Exemption Accountability Project and contributing to an amicus brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education. A first-generation college graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University, she founded the Loma LGBTQIA+ Alumni & Allies Coalition. She also currently serves as Sergeant at Arms for San Diego Democrats for Equality, Board Member of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), and East Area Vice Chair for the San Diego County Democratic Party.