Patrick picks two LGBT advocates for domestic violence council

Gov. Deval Patrick last month appointed two LGBT domestic violence advocates, Curt Rogers, executive director of the Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project, and Sabrina Santiago, chair of the GLBT Domestic Violence Coalition, to the Governor's Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. The council, established by executive order last June, will draft policy guidelines for law enforcement responding to domestic violence and sexual assault, and it will evaluate the need for domestic violence-related legislation.

Rogers, who publicly resigned last year from then-Gov. Mitt Romney's domestic violence council over his vetoes of funding for LGBT domestic violence services and other LGBT programming, said the Patrick administration has already signaled its strong commitment to responding to domestic violence in the LGBT community. Rogers said he participated in a domestic violence roundtable with Patrick in October, and he was impressed when Patrick asked Rogers to give his opinion of how well the state responds to LGBT domestic violence.

"It was incredible to have that kind of response, unsolicited, come from the governor, as opposed to what we had been used to in the previous administration," said Rogers.

While Rogers was the only representative from an LGBT-focused organization in Romney's commission, which had more than 300 members, Rogers and Santiago will have a much stronger voice on the new commission, which has only 30 members.

"I think it's very hopeful, and I think it really underlines his interest in working with this community and including them in the topic of domestic violence and sexual assault," said Santiago, who is also director of organizing and education for The Network/La Red.

Rogers said the LGBT community's increased representation on the governor's council, combined with Patrick's interest in addressing the issue of LGBT domestic violence, gives him confidence that the administration will give more attention to the issue than the Romney administration.

"It's already a different environment. This population will not be overlooked by this administration. We're getting that message already. ... They're already listening, they're reaching out," said Rogers.