Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving as the eighth Mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented Ward 4 as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female Mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.
LGBTQ veterans event set for Sept. 20 at D.C.’s Crush Dance Bar
The Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs are hosting a special event on Friday, Sept. 20, to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the repeal of the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that banned LGBTQ people from serving openly in the U.S.
military. The event, called “Voices of Courage: Reclaiming the Legacy of LGBTQIA+ Inclusion In the Military,” will take place from 3-5 p.m.
at D.C.’s LGBTQ Crush Dance Bar at 2007 14th St., N.W. An announcement from the mayor’s office says the keynote speaker at the event will be Under Secretary of Defense For Personnel And Readiness Shawn G.
Skelly, who will discuss “her experiences of service and the future of the LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the military.” Skelly, a military veteran, will be joined by another veteran who will also speak at the event, Pip Baitinger, who currently serves as LGBTQIA+ Veterans Outreach and Relation Specialist in the Executive Office of the D.C.
