Alphonso David


Alphonso David is an American attorney and LGBT civil rights leader. In August 2019, he became the president of the Human Rights Campaign. He is the first civil rights lawyer and first person of color to serve as president of the organization.

Early life

David was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. His family moved to Monrovia, Liberia, when he was one year old. In 1977, David's father was elected mayor of his city while his great uncle William Tolbert was President of Liberia. In 1980 during a military coup, David's uncle was assassinated and his father was incarcerated. His family lived under house arrest for 18 months and sought political asylum in the United States when he was 10 years old.

Education

David graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1992 and Temple University Law School in 2000. While at Temple, David was a member of the University's national trial team and the Political and Civil Rights Law Review.

Career

Early career

After graduation David worked as a judicial law clerk for the Clifford Scott Green, a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania known for issuing a decision finding racial discrimination in the Philadelphia Police Department.
Next, David joined Blank Rome LLP, a national law firm based in Philadelphia, to work as a litigation associate. He also got heavily involved in pro bono work, such as helping victims of domestic violence.

Civil rights litigation

David served as a staff attorney at the Lambda Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 2004-2007. He worked on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-centered cases around the country involving issues like HIV, employment and housing accommodations. David worked on New York’s first marriage equality case, Hernandez v. Robles. They won at the trial court but lost on appeal. After about a year with Lambda legal, he joined Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as bureau chief for civil rights.

Counsel to New York Governor Cuomo

David served for four years in the Governor’s cabinet as the Deputy Secretary and Counsel for Civil Rights, the first position of its kind in New York State. In this capacity, he was responsible for a full range of legal, policy, legislative and operational matters affecting civil rights and labor throughout the State
In 2015, Mr. David was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve as Counsel to the Governor. In this role, he functioned as the Governor’s chief counsel and principal legal advisor, and oversaw all significant legal and policy deliberations affecting New York State, including evaluating proposed legislation; implementing laws and policies and formulating the State’s posture in both affirmative and defensive litigation.

President of the Human Rights Campaign

After 12 years with the New York state government, David became president of the HRC where he will have a larger platform to advocate for LGBTQ issues. According to their website, the HRC "represents a force of more than 3 million members and supporters nationwide. As the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community."

Personal life

He works as an Adjunct Professor of Law. David is openly gay, and his favorite vacation destination is Italy. He cites James Baldwin as his LGBT+ hero for "daring to dream big and beyond the limitations others placed on him."

Awards and honors

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.

Further resources

Hear David' story in his own words -