She attended American University and worked in broadcast television, doing public affairs work for nonprofit organizations before becoming an executive secretary at the Central Intelligence Agency in 2000.[2]
Spector became an activist after her brother Stanley's diagnosis with the HIV virus that causes AIDS and subsequent suicide, in October 1985. She began by volunteering at the 1987 and 1993 Marches on Washington, and served as grand marshal of the D.C. Gay Pride Parade in 1998.[5]
She co-founded the group Oppression Under Target in the late 1980s. The group distributes safe-sex kits to women. In 1990, she worked with ACT-UP to prevent the spread of HIV through infected drug needles.[6]
Spector was known for her photography of D.C. gay events and people, including the community's first AIDS candlelight vigil in 1983.[9] Unfortunately, many of her videos and photographs were lost in an apartment fire shortly before her death. She had intended to leave the materials to the Rainbow History Project, which filed for a grant to clean and restore the remaining materials.[5]
Just before her death, Mautner Project, the National Lesbian Health Organization, had planned to honor Spector with their "Unsung Hero Award", which they asked her sister to accept on her behalf.[5]
She was also an occasional guest on Washington, D.C.'s Don and Mike Show, usually reporting on gay pride events in the area.
^Najafi, Yusef. "Saying Goodbye to CherylAfter apartment fire and battle with leukemia, local lesbian historian dies", Metro Weekly, September 5, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2017. "During the past 20 years, Spector played an active role in Washington’s GLBT community. The native of Toms River, N.J., who came to Washington to study Spanish and broadcast journalism at American University, built a reputation for attending and videotaping nearly every GLBT-related event in Washington, whether it be Capital Pride events, the funerals of the many people who died from AIDS in the late ’80s and ’90s, or even drag performances."
^"Colleges in Area Project Enrollments", Asbury Park Press, May 12, 1974. Accessed November 22, 2017. "When 16-year-old Cheryl Spector, a sophomore at Toms River High School North, completes college, she wants to become a Spanish teacher."