Rea Carey (born December 22, 1966) is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist and served as the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force (previously the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) from 2008 to 2021.

[1][2] Carey grew up in Denver, Colorado, and came out at the age of 16, near the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, which prompted her early activism.

[3] Carey graduated from Smith College in the 1980s and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

[5] Carey began her career working extensively in HIV/AIDS prevention and in the LGBT community[6] as one of the co-founders of Gay Men and Lesbians Opposing Violence and the founding executive director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition.

[7] Carey serves on the advisory board of the LGBTQ Policy Journal of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.