Rene Astudillo Appointed to HRC Advisory Committee

March 2, 2007

AAJA Executive Director Rene Astudillo has been appointed member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Advisory Committee of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission. The Commission works to provide leadership and advocacy to secure, protect and promote human rights for all people. It was established in 1964 by City Ordinance, and became a Charter Commission in 1990.

Astudillo's appointment, which began March 1, is a volunteer position and is in recognition of his almost two decades of professional and volunteer work with diverse communities around issues of health, immigrant rights and the media.

The LGBT Advisory Committee provides assistance and advice to the Commission regarding discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities; advocates for the civil rights of persons with AIDS/HIV; and educates the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities about issues of diversity within those communities.

Astudillo has been AAJA Executive Director since 1999 and is an ex-officio member of the board of directors of UNITY: Journalists of Color. He is also a member of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association.

An immigrant from the Philippines, he has been contributing editor and columnist for the Filipino Guardian, and contributing writer for Filipinas Magazine and the Bay Area Reporter. While living in Honolulu, he was a columnist for Island Lifestyle and contributing writer for the Philippine Courier.

Astudillo was program coordinator at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, executive director of the Filipino Task Force on AIDS, and education director of the Life Foundation, Hawaii’s AIDS Foundation based in Honolulu. He has also been involved with the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, Filipinos for Affirmative Action and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.