Malik Brown Becomes Atlanta's First Director of LGBTQ Affairs

Despite the fact that Georgia does not have any statewide protections for their LGBTQ citizens, the state’s capital city, Atlanta, has achieved a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index every year since 2013, a distinction that gave the city an ‘All-Star’ status in 2018.

Elected as Atlanta’s mayor in 2017, Keisha Lance Bottoms appointed Malik Brown as Atlanta’s first full-time LGBTQ Affairs Coordinator not long after she took office. On Friday, November 20, Brown became the city’s first Director of LGBTQ Affairs. According to the press release, Brown will advise the Mayor and City departments on policies, programs, and initiatives concerning LGBTQ residents, city employees, and visitors.

Brown also serves as an executive committee member of the Human Rights Campaign’s National Board of Governors as well as a member of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBTQ Advisory Board.

Mayor Bottoms spoke on the creation of the Director position:

“Since taking office, our Administration has prioritized the well-being and advancement of Atlanta’s large and diverse LGBTQ community and municipal LGBTQ affairs. By creating a Director-level LGBTQ Affairs position in the Mayor’s Office and continuing the work of the Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board, we are creating institutional support for LGBTQ Atlantans.”

Brown will act as the city of Atlanta’s liaison to the LGBTQ Advisory Board, which Bottoms announced new members of the Advisory Board on Friday.

The press release also states that Atlanta is one of a handful of cities to establish a full-time position that advises the mayor and city officials on LGBTQ issues.

PERSONAL NEWS: Mayor @KeishaBottoms has created Atlanta's (and the South's) first-ever Director-level position on LGBTQ Affairs, and I'm honored to have been chosen to serve in this role, as Atlanta's Director of LGBTQ Affairs. #WeAreOneAtlanta 🏳️‍🌈https://t.co/nzoZHMtl7r pic.twitter.com/my1GgW7251

— Malik Brown (@mkybrown) November 20, 2020