Photography by M. Sharkey
Just this past spring, President Obama declared his official (fully evolved) support for marriage equality. While it's taken a while for him to get there, many inside the Beltway have long been out and proud. This portrait of 14 dedicated government employees -- from a special advisor in the U.S. Department of State to the director of specialty media in the White House Office of Communications -- symbolizes the full breadth and diversity of the LGBT staff under the Obama-Biden administration.
Back row, left to right: Ashlee Davis, Staff Assistant, Office of Presidential Personnel, the White House; Ven Neralla, Director of Congressional Affairs, Research, Education, and Economics and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Kathleen Hartnett, Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President, Office of the White House Counsel, the White House; Fred P. Hochberg, Chairman and President, Export-Import Bank of the United States; Pamela S. Hyde, Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Anthony Bernal, Director of Scheduling/Advance and Trip Director, Office of Dr. Jill Biden, Office of the Vice President, the White House; Shin Inouye, Director of Specialty Media, Office of Communications, the White House.
Front row, left to right: Ana M. Ma, Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Labor; Carlos E. Elizondo, Social Secretary to the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden, Office of the Vice President, the White House; Mira Patel, Special Advisor, Secretary's Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State; Dylan Orr, Special Advisor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor; Gautam Raghavan, Associate Director, Office of Public Engagement, the White House; Lisa Kohn, Policy Assistant, Domestic Policy Council, the White House; Monique Dorsainvil, Deputy Director of Advance and Special Events, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, the White House.
Photographed in the Secretary of War Suite, The White House, Washington, D.C., on August 29, 2012
