Code of the District of Columbia

§ 2–1383. Appointment of Director; compensation; staff.

(a)(1) The Office shall be administered by the Director, who shall be appointed by the Mayor. The Director shall devote his or her full time to the duties of the Office. His or her annual compensation shall not be lower than a DS-15, step one, or equivalent compensation pursuant to §§ 1-610.51 through 1-610.63.

(2) The Office shall have sufficient full-time employees to perform the Office’s duties, with a minimum of 2 full-time employees, plus any temporary staff approved by the Office of Budget and Planning.

(b) The Director shall:

(1) Serve as an advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community in the District of Columbia;

(2) Assist community organizations in developing and submitting grant applications;

(3) Provide information and technical assistance with respect to programs and services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community to the Mayor, the Council, other District of Columbia agencies and departments, and the community;

(4) File an annual report on the operation of the Office with the Mayor and the Council;

(5) Identify areas of need for service or improvement of services and bring them to the attention of the Mayor, with suggestions for satisfying such needs, including conducting or funding research and demonstration projects to test the suggestions;

(6) Assure necessary control, evaluation, audit, and reporting on programs funded through the Office;

(7) Accept volunteer services and funds from the public and private sectors to supplement the budget in carrying out the planning duties and responsibilities of the Office;

(8) Meet with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinators within each department and agency of the District government as a group, at least once a month to coordinate activities within the government involving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community;

(9) Meet with each department and agency director to establish a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinator;

(10) Work with the Department of Health’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinator to ensure that the Department’s annual report on the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning health in the District of Columbia is comprehensive and receives an appropriate response;

(11) Issue grants to organizations that provide services to LGBTQ residents of the District of Columbia or in furtherance of the mission of the Office or the purposes of this chapter;

(12) Implement the grant program created by § 2-1384; and

(13) No later than July 31, 2022, in coordination with the Advisory Committee and after consultation with the LGBTQ community, submit to the Council a report on the state of LGBTQ Community Businesses that shall include:

(A) An evaluation of the state of the LGBTQ Community Business economy and how that economy has changed over time;

(B) The economic and social value of the LGBTQ Community Business economy to the District as a whole;

(C) The key challenges currently faced by LGBTQ Community Businesses;

(D) Recommendations for maintaining vibrant and diverse LGBTQ Community Businesses; and

(E) Recommendations for ensuring that LGBTQ Community Businesses remain open and welcoming to all members of the LGBTQ community.