Jewish Members of Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board

Rabbi Joshua Lesser, Philip Rafshoon and Jason Feldman are members of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ new LGBTQ advisory board. The new board recently met digitally to discuss its goals for 2021.

Bottoms created the board along with the city’s first director of LGBTQ Affairs, Malik Brown, to build on her administration’s equity agenda and commitment to making City Hall more open and inclusive, according to a recent press release.

Logo for the new Atlanta city LGBTQ advisory board and city seal of Atlanta.

Atlanta is among only a handful of cities in the country to establish a full-time position that advises the mayor and senior city officials, the release stated. “Since taking office, our Administration has prioritized the well-being and advancement of Atlanta’s large and diverse LGBTQ community and municipal LGBTQ affairs,” Bottoms said. By creating the LGBTQ Affairs position and “continuing the work of the Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board, we are creating institutional support for LGBTQ Atlantans.”

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The advisory board is composed of citywide LGBTQ civic leaders, influencers and advocates. New members of the board represent many of the diverse voices in Atlanta’s LGBTQ community, including trans and non-binary people, LGBTQ people of color, healthcare professionals, straight allies, Jewish residents, and more, the release said.