LGBT policy – Source of the Week

Civil and Human Rights, Immigration, Politics

Jerry Gonzalez

June 12, 2013August 31, 2020by NPR Source of the Week

Jerry Gonzalez is the founder and current executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) and the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund. Gonzalez has been named one of “Georgia’s 100 Most Influential” by Georgia Trend Magazine. GALEO’s mission is to increase civic engagement and leadership development of the Latino/Hispanic community across Georgia.

Previously Gonzalez worked with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) as a Legislative Policy Analyst, focusing upon immigrants’ rights issues at the Georgia General Assembly and in several local jurisdictions across the Southeast. Through his efforts, DeKalb County became the largest municipality to accept the Mexican Matricula Consular ID card as a form of identification for Mexican nationals in DeKalb County and he worked towards the passage of a new Georgia flag without the confederate battle emblem.

During the 2010 Census, Gonzalez advocated for strong participation of the Latino community in Georgia, which ended up having a 96% increase, representing 28% of the state’s overall growth. In voter engagement efforts, the Latino electorate has grown to well over 150,000 from a mere 10,000 in 2003. In addition, the Latino voter participation rates in most jurisdictions in Georgia during the 2008 election out-performed the national Latino voter participation rates.

Most recently Gonzalez and GALEO have been actively fighting passage of Georgia’s HB 87, an Arizona-style anti-immigration legislation. After the passage of HB 87, Gonzalez worked with community leaders and lawyers on a lawsuit that sought to halt its implementation and filed an Amicus Brief in support of the litigation to stop HB87 which resulted in the judges halting the “show me your papers” provisions of the law.

Founder, Executive Director of Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials

Areas of Expertise: Latino Issues, Immigration, Politics, Latino Vote, Latino Politics,Leadership Development, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Gay Rights, Marriage Equality

Location: Atlanta, GA
Contact Info:

Office: (404) 745-2580

Email: jerry@galeo.org

Twitter:@GALEOorg

Featured on FOX5:

Civil and Human Rights, Gender and LGBT Issues, Immigration, Law

Iván Espinoza-Madrigal

June 10, 2013August 31, 2020by NPR Source of the Week

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal is the legal director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), and a civil rights attorney specializing in legal issues affecting the LGBT community and those living with HIV, particularly in immigration law. Most recently, he worked at Lambda Legal, where he focused on marriage equality, immigration and issues affecting LGBT and HIV-affected people of color.

Espinoza-Madrigal’s cases have been featured in the New York Times and New York Law Journal. He speaks nationally on civil rights issues, and provides legal commentary to CNN, Univision, Telemundo and the Huffington Post. The National LGBT Bar Association has recognized him as one of the Best LGBT Lawyers under 40.

Legal Director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy

Areas of Expertise: Gay Rights, Public Health, Immigrant Rights, Immigration Reform, Civil Rights, Latino Rights/Issues, Marriage Equality, Issues Affecting LGBT and HIV-Affected People of Color

Location: New York, NY

Contact Information:

Email: iespinoza@hivlawandpolicy.org

Mobile: (908) 405-2269

Twitter: @ivanEspinozaESQ

Gender and LGBT Issues, Politics, Race and Ethnicity

Aisha Moodie-Mills

June 7, 2013August 31, 2020by NPR Source of the Week

Aisha Moodie-Mills is recognized as one of the top “Forty Under 40” national LGBT leaders by The Advocate, and as one of The Root‘s 100 emerging and established leaders in the African-American community. She is a progressive strategist with more than a decade of experience in politics and policy. She is currently an adviser for LGBT Policy and Racial Justice at the Center for American Progress (CAP), the country’s largest progressive think tank.

Moodie-Mills has also been a key strategist and spokesperson on behalf of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia, where she served as the president of D.C.’s marriage equality campaign as the district became the fifth jurisdiction/state in the country to extend marriage rights to lesbian and gay couples. She and her wife, Danielle, were among the first same-sex couples to receive a marriage license in D.C., and their wedding was the first lesbian wedding to be featured by Essence magazine online.

Moodie-Mills began her career in education policy and nonprofit management at the Center for Education Reform. She holds two degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park: a master of business administration and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is a member of the National Black MBA Association, an organization which promotes intellectual and economic wealth in the black community.

Her work and publications have been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The Atlantic, Black Enterprise, Washington Post, Essence, POLITICO, Ebony, Huffington Post, and Uptown Magazine. She appears regularly as a political commentator on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show, MSNBC Live, Jansing & Co and The Daily Rundown.

Senior Fellow, The Center for American Progress

Areas of Expertise: LGBT Policy, Race & Ethnicity, Rising American Electorate, Progressive Politics, Gender and Marriage Equality

Location: Washington, DC

Contact Information:

Mobile: (202) 251-6763

Email: amills@americanprogress.org

Twitter: @AishaMoodMills, @threeLOL

Featured on MSNBC: