Photo: Gautam Raghavan. Credit: Department of Labor.
Gautam Raghavan, the White House’s LGBT liaison, will leave the Obama administration after more than five years to join the Gill Foundation as vice president of policy.
Raghavan, who is gay, departs the White House after three years. Previously, he served as Deputy White House Liaison for the Department of Defense and as the Outreach Lead for the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Working Group.
“As I make this transition, I find myself more hopeful than ever that big change (yes, the kind we can believe in!) is possible – because I’ve seen it happen,” Raghavan wrote in an email. “This kind of change can sometimes be slow, challenging, and frustrating. But when fierce advocates, unyielding activists, dedicated public servants, and strong allies work together, we can – and will – bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice.”
Raghavan’s last day at the White House is Friday. He will join the Gill Foundation on Monday. “I’m looking forward to joining a creative and innovative team dedicated to advancing equality for the LGBT community, nationally and in the states,” he said.
White House spokesperson Shin Inouye provided no timetable for naming Raghavan’s replacement. In the meantime, Monique Dorsainvil will serve in Raghavan’s place. Dorsainvil serves as the Director of Planning and Events for the Office of Public Engagement and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Previously, she served as a staff assistant in the Office of Public Engagement working on the White House Council on Women and Girls and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Outreach.
“We deeply appreciate Gautam’s work with the AAPI and LGBT communities on behalf of the White House Office of Public Engagement and wish him all the best in his next steps,” Inouye told Metro Weekly.
Raghavan’s departure comes after LGBT-rights advocates secured one of their final requests from President Barack Obama earlier this summer. On July 21, Obama signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from LGBT workplace discrimination and protecting transgender federal employees from discrimination, marking the end of a long campaign by LGBT-rights advocates to convince Obama to take such executive actions.
D.C. police are searching for three men who allegedly hurled anti-trans slurs at 43-year-old Cayla Calhoun before brutally attacking her and leaving her with serious injuries.
Calhoun, a sommelier and bartender at Annabelle restaurant, left work around midnight on June 29 and stopped at the Golden Age, a nearby bar, for a quick beer, according to The Advocate.
After leaving Golden Age, Calhoun rode a Onewheel electric board through Georgetown and along Rock Creek Parkway. Near the National Mall, three men on scooters emerged and began shouting anti-LGBTQ slurs at her.
The Metropolitan Police Department is asking for the public’s help in solving the fatal shooting of a transgender woman in Northeast D.C.
Dream Johnson, 28, was reportedly walking along Benning Road NE, between the Carver Langston and Kingman Park neighborhoods, when she was shot in the early morning hours of Saturday, July 5.
According to a news release from the Metropolitan Police Department, officers from MPD’s Sixth District were flagged down in the 2000 block of Benning Road NE for an unconscious woman. When they arrived, they found a female victim -- later identified as Johnson -- suffering from gunshot wounds.
Void, a Chicago-based Italian eatery, marked Pride Month with a pop-up parody targeting Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain that has long been criticized for its past support of anti-LGBTQ initiatives and organizations.
"Chick-feel-Gay" appeared for one day only, on June 22, at a storefront at 2937 N. Milwaukee Street, in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood.
The menu featured chef and co-owner Dani Kaplan's version of the famous Chick-fil-A fried chicken sandwich, along with waffle fries, dipping sauces, and chicken nuggets.
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