(Photo by Todd Franson, Metro Weekly)
Distinguished Service Award to Ronald King
Presented by GLAA Vice President for Political Affairs Rick Rosendall
GLAA 40th Anniversary ReceptionWashington Plaza Hotel
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Ronald King four weeks ago became the Senior Policy Advisor to the D.C. Council Committee on Health. The appointment came after we decided to honor him, but we are pleased that Councilmember Catania shares our high opinion of this man. The roots of both go back thirty years to the advent of AIDS. When most reacted with fear, Ronald responded with caring and commitment that led to his eventual employment in the field.
Ronald has spent decades in public service both inside and outside government. He has served the District as a community relations officer for the Department of Health in the Office of the Director; as the Director of Prevention and Intervention Services for the HIV/AIDS Administration; and as Government Co-Chair of the D.C. HIV Prevention Community Planning Group. He has also held a variety of positions at Whitman-Walker Clinic.
Ronald managed the first CDC-funded outreach program in the District of Columbia for Black and Latino sexual minorities. He has managed HIV/AIDS programs funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He co-founded the DC Needle Exchange Coalition. He designed the award-winning AIDS Program of the National Basketball Players Association. Imagine him traveling the country teaching and showing men like Clyde Drexler, Kevin Johnson, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan how to put on condoms and various sexual techniques in their practice gyms and locker rooms.
Ronald fought bank redlining as a D.C. council staff member and pioneered the fight for the city’s divestment from South Africa under its former apartheid government. His elected positions have included Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, vice president of Ward 6 Democrats, and Democratic State Committeeman.
Ronald is a founding board member of African American Collective Theater (ACT), and has produced and performed in several productions by his dear friend, past GLAA honoree Alan Sharpe. Ronald is an accomplished classically trained singer who has performed nationally.
In 2009, during the run-up to passage of the District’s marriage equality law, Ronald faced down hate at community meetings to speak up for our families. During public debates on other contentious issues over the years, he has stood up for fairness and decency before audiences who made it neither easy nor popular. His integrity and devotion to advancing the public health while demonstrating the true spirit of neighborhood have earned him the abiding respect of those who recognize leadership and moral courage.
In short, this man is a class act. It is my privilege and personal pleasure to present GLAA’s Distinguished Service Award to my friend Ronald King.
