Fridae

Gautam Raghavan, who was born in India, will now take on a position as Policy Director of the Gill Foundation, one of the United States’ largest funders and organizers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights work, according to americanbazaaronline.com.

As the LGBT White House Liaison Raghavan would advocates gay issues within the administration, progress on equality legislation, as well as informing the public on the President’s position on LGBT issues.

Raghavan, is the second high profile Indian American to work for the Foundation. Prominent LGBT rights activist Urvashi Vaid, who was also born in India, but came to the US at a young age had served as a Gill Foundation Board member.

During his three-year tenure at the White House, Raghavan oversaw the implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court decision against the Defense of Marriage Act and the signing of an executive order barring LGBT discrimination among federal contractors.

Before his job as the White House LGBT liaison, Raghavan worked as the Deputy White House Liaison to the Pentagon where he facilitated communications between LGBT advocates, the White House and the Defense Department.

“As I make this transition, I find myself more hopeful than ever that big change (yes, the kind we can believe in!) is possible,” Washington Blade reported Raghavan saying while announcing his decision to quit the White House job.

White House spokesperson Shin Inouye has provided no timetable for naming Raghavan’s replacement.

Raghavan, who was raised in Seattle, is a graduate of Stanford University.