The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, along with partners including HRC, the Task Force and Stonewall Democrats, today launched a community-wide effort to make sure openly LGBT professionals have a shot at the thousands of presidential appointments that will fill out the executive branch when the 44th president takes office next January.

The idea is simple. We'll recruit the best people we can and work with the next president's transition team to demonstrate our community's commitment to serving all Americans. In 1996 we were able to do this in the second Clinton administration, and it worked. Having a database of vetted, qualified openly gay leaders ready to work for the incoming president makes it far more likely that he or she will choose to fill key positions from among our ranks.