Tulsa's Oklahomans for Equality to host White House LGBT official

(TULSA, OK) Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) will be hosting a special guest from the White House on Thursday September 27th, 2012 at 7:00 pm at the Dennis R Neill Equality Center located at 621 East 4th Street, Tulsa, OK 74120.

Gautam Raghavan, who is presently the Liaison to the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community with the White House Office of Public Engagement, will be the special guest speaker at the annual membership meeting of Oklahomans for Equality.

Raghavan was formerly the deputy White House Liaison at the Department of Defense and was one of the Pentagon officials who managed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal process, according to multiple LGBT advocates involved in repeal, a process that resulted in the end of the 1993 law on Sept. 20, 2011. The Dennis R Neill Equality Center hosted the very first military recruiters at a LGBT community center in the country with the assistance of Raghavan.

Prior to his work at the Pentagon he worked for the Democratic National Committee as the director of the Indo-American Leadership Council.   

Raghavan will share about his experience as an openly gay man in the Obama Administration and the unique challenges of LGBT individuals within the Indian-American and South Asian-American communities.

The public is invited to attend and admission is free.

Founded by a dedicated group of volunteers in 1980, Oklahomans for Equality/OkEq is Oklahoma’s oldest gay rights organization. From testing for HIV/AIDS and hosting the annual Tulsa Pride and Diversity Celebration to operating the Equality Center and documenting the Tulsa LGBT community’s rich history, OkEq works for social justice and full inclusion for Oklahoma’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens and their allies. For more information, see www.okeq.org