Press

Kerry Lobel, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), announced the appointment of Mark F. Johnson as Media Director. Johnson joins the staff of the Task Force after a three-month national search to fill the position.

Prior to coming to NGLTF, Johnson was a Media Specialist with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) where he worked primarily on outreach to the gay and lesbian media and also on public relations efforts aimed at the lesbian and gay community.

Johnson was also the News Media Director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). In that position, he managed the organization's news office and served as its chief news spokesperson and media strategist. Before taking the position in New York, Johnson worked for eight years in the lobbying department of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in Washington, DC.

At AARP, Johnson focused on age and employment discrimination issues, national service, campaign finance reform and other issues. He also worked with the national media to help disseminate the Association's legislative message. Before coming to AARP, he worked as a reporter and covered Congress and federal agencies for "Tax Notes," a weekly tax and business publication based in Arlington, Virginia. Johnson also worked in the Washington Bureau of The New York Times.

For the past ten years Johnson has had an active freelance writing career and has written for several gay publications throughout the country including the Washington Blade, Windy City Times, Southern Voice, Chicago's Outlines, and the Baltimore Gay Paper. His monthly column, Out This Way, which focuses on political and media issues, has regularly appeared in Kick magazine, and he has also written a Washington-based column for SBC magazine. Both are national publications aimed primarily at African-American gay men.

"NGLTF is a good fit for me," said Johnson. "The Task Force has a very bright future and so much strength to contribute at this critical time in our movement's history. I'm very excited about working on these issues in Washington and I'm glad to be with an organization that has a proven commitment to making a difference."

"I'm happy that Mark is on board," said Kerry Lobel. "In the next four years our movement will face many difficult but exciting challenges. I have great confidence that Mark will deliver NGLTF's message accurately and effectively and that he will be an artful spokesperson for issues affecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," Lobel continued.

Headshots of Johnson are available by contacting the NGLTF press office at 202/ 332-6483.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.