LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón today announced the creation of the office's first LGBTQ advisory board.
The board will meet regularly, seek input from the public and provide regular feedback on improvements to better serve LGBTQ+ residents and others who come into contact with the office and ways to improve diversity and inclusion within the office, according to Gascón.
``The contributions that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people have made to society make up a rich part of U.S. history. Sadly, LGBTQ+ people have long been subjected to public hostility, discrimination and violence,'' Gascón said in a written statement.
``This new advisory board creates a precedent for this office to truly listen and learn from the LGBTQ+ community and inform my policies.''
The board will be chaired by Bamby Salcedo, the president and chief executive officer of the TransLatin@ Coalition, which advocates for and addresses the issues of transgender Latinas throughout the United States.
The vice chair will be Vincent Jones, the chief executive officer of The Citizen Jones Companies, a collection of socially minded businesses created with the spirit of doing good, having fun and helping others do the same.
Other advisory board members include:
-- Allison Blaylock, president of the OUTreach Center in Lancaster;
-- Chela Demuir, founder of the ``TransGiving Dinner,'' a dinner with all the traditional trimmings of a holiday meal that is now celebrated in various states across the nation;
-- Ari Gutierrez Arambula, an advocate for the Latino LGBTQ+ community;
-- Joey Hernandez, director of policy and community building department at the Los Angeles LGBT Center;
-- Skylar Myers, a victims' rights advocate for the Anti-Violence Project at the Los Angeles LGBT Center;
-- Brad Sears, founding executive director and David Sanders Distinguished Scholar of Law & Policy at the Williams Institute and associate dean of public interest law at UCLA Law;
-- Stella Ursua, board president/chair at the LGBTQ+ Center Long Beach and programs and partnerships manager of GRID Alternatives-Greater Los Angeles.