LA County Appoints Sunitha Menon as Executive Director of LGBTQ+ Commission

Sunitha Menon, the former managing director of operations at Equality California, will serve as the executive director of Los Angeles County first-ever LGBTQ+ Commission, officials announced Friday.

The Board of Supervisors recently appointed Menon as executive director of the commission, where she is expected to review, recommend and propose policies, budgets, legislation and programs impacting the LGBTQ+ community. In her previous role with Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, Menon led strategic planning and executed a culture change plan to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the organization.

“It is an honor to have been chosen as the first executive director of the LGBTQ+ commission. I am grateful to Supervisor Solis and the Board of Supervisors for creating a commission dedicated to the safety and survival of the LGBTQ+ community here in Los Angeles County,” Menon said in a prepared statement. “Although we’d like to think that California and Los Angeles County specifically have been immune to the hateful attacks and rhetoric that have impacted so much of our community across the country, we face safety concerns, discrimination, and hate every day.”

She added, “I am confident that with my experience and the support of our diverse commissioners, the Board of Supervisors, and importantly, the wider LGBTQ+ community, we will be able to fight for our rights, our safety, and create a county where all LGBTQ+ people can thrive.”

Menon was also responsible for establishing the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s Chat program, which provides immediate mental health support to those in crisis. She also created and ran the first Consulting Services Department at RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, where she worked with companies, government organizations, and nonprofits with the goal to prevent sexual violence and support survivors.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to fly the Progress Pride Flag at all county facilities in June, which is also Pride Month. Additionally, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn co-authored a motion to create the county’s first LGBTQ+ commission to review and make recommendations on new policies that impact LGBTQ+ communities.

“I hope this appointment will shine a light on those who dwell in these dark corners of hate and discrimination and move them toward the reality that the right to pursue life, liberty, and justice applies to everyone who chooses to live and thrive as who they are,” Solis said in a statement.

Hahn described Menon as the right person to get the commission off the ground, and help the county better shape policies and close inequality gaps impacting queer people. Hahn also noted that Menon is a resident of her 4th District — living in Long Beach with her wife who works as a L.A. County fire captain.

According to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations 2021 Hate Crime Report, 89 percent of the hate crimes against gay men, and 93 percent of anti-transgender crimes, involved violence. And research has found that attempted suicide rates among LGBTQ+ youth are significantly higher than among the general population.

In the first half of 2024 alone, legislators nationwide have introduced more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, ranging from censoring school curriculum on LGBTQ+ topic to targeting drag shows, according to the report.

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who is chair of the board, echoed her colleagues’ sentiments, and expressed that she had full confidence in Menon.

“I look forward to the commissioners joining her in this urgent and important work to ensure that Los Angeles County remains a place where everyone — including our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender-nonconforming, intersex, and gender-expansive community members — is welcomed, supported, and empowered,” Horvath said in a statement.