JUST RELEASED: The 2019 PRIDE POWER 100 List Includes Influential LID Leaders, Members and Brooklynites

On the front lines of the battles for LGBTQ rights are countless individuals who have stood up for our community. This Pride Power 100 list recognizes the most influential figures in the LGBTQ community here in New York, where the fight began. On June 27, Attend City & State’s PRIDE POWER 100 with LID.

LID congratulates the following Brooklyn community leaders included in the list

Carlos Menchaca
New York City Councilman

Carlos  Menchaca is New York City’s first Mexican American elected official and  one of five openly LGBTQ members of the New York City Council. As  chairman of the Immigration Committee, Menchaca has fiercely defended  the city’s immigrant population. In the past year, he sponsored  legislation to stop federal immigration authorities from patrolling New  York courts and blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to expand the city’s  collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Emily Giske & Julian Kline
Partner; Senior Vice President

Bolton-St. Johns

Emily Giske joined Bolton-St. Johns in 1999 and has been a partner at the top government relations and public affairs firm since 2008. She helped pass New York’s 2011 same-sex marriage bill and advised Christine Quinn’s 2013 mayoral campaign. A vice chair of the state Democratic Party, Giske is also a player in national Democratic politics. A rising star at the firm is Julian Kline, who has worked with clients in LGBTQ-related fields.

Matthew McMorrow & Ashe McGovern
Senior Adviser; Director, NYC Unity Project

New York City Mayor’s Office

Matthew McMorrow handles the de Blasio administration’s LGBTQ outreach. A former activist who helped launch Equality New York, which seeks to elect pro-LGBTQ candidates, McMorrow focuses on transgender issues, HIV prevention, school safety and economic empowerment for LGBTQ New Yorkers. Ashe McGovern, who self-identifies as a “nonbinary trans, queer human,” spent years honing legal skills to fight for LGBTQ rights. McGovern was part of the city’s effort to add a third gender category to birth certificates.

Jared Arader
LID President

Jared Arader is the latest leader of Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, one of the largest and most influential LGBTQ political organizations in New York. Shortly after taking over in January, Arader, who also works for the New York City Department of Education, oversaw the group’s endorsement of Melissa Mark-Viverito in the city’s public advocate race – continuing a long track record of backing candidates in key races in Brooklyn and beyond.

David Mansur
Political Consultant

David Mansur doesn’t make headlines himself, but the veteran political consultant has been a key behind-the-scenes player as a fundraiser for some of New York’s best-known politicians at the city, state and federal levels, including state Attorney General Letitia James. His go-to consulting firm was formerly called Nashban Mansur, but when his business partner moved to Oregon last year, he brought on Allegra Scheinblum and renamed the fully LGBTQ-owned firm Culver Place Strategies.

Dominic Holden
Reporter

BuzzFeed News

A reporter for BuzzFeed News covering politics, Dominic Holden has been shining a spotlight not only on anti-LGBTQ groups but also on the failures of pro-LGBTQ organizations. Before moving to New York City, Holden was news editor at The Stranger, an LGBTQ weekly in Seattle. He previously worked as an organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union, campaigning for marijuana reform. In 2016, he was named Journalist of the Year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.