GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, has announced five new members of the organization’s national board of directors,...
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed now has an official “advisor on LGBT issues” after appointing gay attorney Robin Shahar to the position Monday. In 2010, Reed told GA Voice he would not have a designated LGBT liaison for his mayoral office, preferring instead a policy of full inclusion that puts gay people in prominent positions based on merit.
The appointment was made public in a press release sent to media late Wednesday evening.
Shahar is also the Chief Counsel in the city of Atlanta's Department of Law and has worked in the city's law department since 1993.
“I am pleased that Robin Shahar will assume this vital role in my administration,” said Reed in a prepared statement.
“In addition to her keen legal mind, she is well-respected in the community and will be an effective ambassador. My administration and I are dedicated to eliminating barriers to equality, fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and engaging the LGBT community across the city," he added.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed met with gay activists today to discuss marriage equality, but did not emerge ready to say "I do" to same-sex nuptials.
The meeting at City Hall was not open to the press and Reed did not give interviews after it ended. Those who attended described the meeting as candid and positive, but said Reed did not announce a change in his position on marriage equality during the gathering.
“The mayor had a productive meeting and he looks forward to further discussions with the LGBT community," Reese McCranie, Reed's deputy director of communications, said in a written statement Wednesday evening.
Reed has been under increasing pressure to voice support for marriage equality after President Barack Obama announced his support in May.
Reese McCranie, the openly gay spokesperson for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, was elected as a Georgia delegate to represent the state at the Democratic National Convention.
McCranie was chosen during the April 21 elections of DNC delegates and is one of three men representing District 5, the congressional district represented by U.S. Rep. John Lewis that includes Atlanta.
Others elected to represent District 5 are Andrea Boone, Terrinee Briggs, Emma Darnell, Moriama "Mo" Ivory, Justin Giboney and C.T. Martin.
The 2012 DNC will be in Charlotte, N.C., from Sept. 3-7
To read a blow-by-blow of the District 5 election process, check out Blog for Democracy's great write up.