As an orphan born in Korea in a year of revolution, Pauline Park was adopted and raised in the Midwest. She did her master’s degree at the London School of Economics and later studied German in Berlin and in Regensburg, where she lived in a medieval tower in the ancient heart of that Bavarian city. Park did her dissertation research in Brussels and Paris for her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She came out as an openly transgendered woman after moving to New York City.

In June 1998, Park co-founded the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York. Park led the campaign for passage of Int. No. 24, the transgender rights ordinance enacted by the New York City Council as Local Law 3 of 2002. She served on the working group that helped to draft guidelines — adopted by the Commission on Human Rights in December 2004 — for implementation of the new statute. Park negotiated inclusion of gender identity and expression in the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), a safe schools bill currently pending in the New York state legislature, and the first fully transgender-inclusive legislation introduced in that body. She also serves on the steering committee of the coalition that secured enactment of the Dignity in All Schools Act by the New York City Council in September 2004. Park was the first openly transgendered individual chosen to be a grand marshal of the New York City Pride March, serving in that capacity in the 2005 Pride March.

Park co-founded Queens Pride House (a center for the LGBT communities of Queens) in January 1997, Iban/Queer Koreans of New York (Iban/QKNY) in February 1997, and the Guillermo Vasquez Independent Democratic Club of Queens (GVIDCQ) in July 2002. She also participated in the founding of the Out People of Color Political Action Club (OutPOCPAC) in April 2001. Park serves on the board of directors of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) and on the advisory board of Asian Pacific Islanders for Human Rights (APIHR). She has written widely on LGBT issues and has conducted transgender sensitivity training sessions for a wide range of social service providers and community-based organization.

In 2008, “ Envisioning Justice: The Journey of a Transgendered Woman” premiered at the New York LGBT Film Festival. The by 32-minute documentary about the life and work of Pauline Park by documentarian Larry Tung is now available through Amazon.com (info. on how to order a DVD copy of the film).

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