Task Force: Roberta Achtenberg excellent appointment to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauds the appointment of former board member Roberta Achtenberg to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an advisory panel charged with investigating, reporting on, and making recommendations to the president and Congress on issues concerning civil rights in the United States.

Achtenberg was the first openly gay person ever to be nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate (in 1993, she was appointed to the position of assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity by President Bill Clinton). Achtenberg has also worked as a civil rights attorney; is a co-founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights; and is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, among other positions.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is a vital voice for fairness, and Roberta Achtenberg’s inclusion on the panel will be of great benefit to it and to our country. As an accomplished champion of civil rights and of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Roberta brings a critical and invaluable perspective to the table. We’ve had the great pleasure of working with Roberta as a member of our board; she is someone who truly embodies the Task Force’s belief that no one is free when others are oppressed. As a truth-teller of courage, conscience and conviction, she will serve our nation well as a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.