Gary Paul Wright was born on December 19, 1953, in Dallas, Texas. He has had a long career in HIV/AIDS education, first with Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City, where he created House of Latex to facilitate outreach to ballroom and house communities in the 1980s, and later with the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the New Jersey AIDS Education and Training Center. He founded the African American Office of Gay Concerns (AAOGC) in 2001, a community-based non-profit organization in Newark, New Jersey, focused on providing services to men of color who are gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men. AAOGC's programs include free HIV rapid testing, condom distribution, sex education, support groups, peer advocacy, and community outreach.

Wright has also served on boards and commissions for a variety of community organizations and government initiatives, including the Newark LGBTQ Mayoral Advisory Commission (2008-2014), Essex County Executive's LGBTQ Advisory Board (2011-2017), Newark LGBTQ Community Center, New Jersey HIV Planning Group (2010-2016), New Jersey Governor's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and Other Blood-borne Pathogens, Broadway House for Continuing Care, and YMSM+LGBT Center of Excellence. You can learn more about Wright's role in the Newark LGBTQ community in Queer Newark, 1885-present, by Timothy Stewart-Winter and Whitney Strub.