“I am going to wear my charcoal gray suit with a bright color shirt. We are really excited.” So says Darryl Moore who is celebrating Pride Month with a visit to the White House. Moore, a gay African American councilmember in Berkeley, as well as the chair of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), will be attending a special reception to celebrate Pride Month on June 29 with his partner of 16 years, Bradley Johnson.
President Bill Clinton first declared June as Gay and Lesbian Pride month in 2000, and President Obama recently expanded the observance by designating June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month and being the first president to celebrate LGBT Pride Month in the White House.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to celebrate LGBT Pride Month with a president that has made so much progress in the fight toward LGBT equality,” said Moore.
Moore isn’t the only Berkeley councilmember to be treading on White House carpet this month.
Two weeks ago, Jesse Arreguín traveled to Washington DC to meet with members of the Obama administration and attend an intimate reception at the White House with the President. Arreguín was one of a small number of members of the Young Elected Officials Network, a network of young progressives in elected office, who was invited to the White House to discuss important issues facing states and localities.
After his return from DC, Arreguín told the Daily Californian that learning about various types of grants was one of the most interesting parts of the trip. He said he learned about opportunities, such as a competitive grant to support the establishment of an infrastructure for electric vehicles, which Berkeley may want to consider applying for.
“I think (the trip) was incredibly helpful because a lot of things that were discussed related to what we’ve been discussing on the City Council and in Berkeley — especially on the environmental side,” he said.
