WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will be honored as the 2013 Community Grand Marshal at this year's Los Angeles LGBT Pride Parade, taking place June 9 in West Hollywood.

Each year Christopher Street West (CSW) - the producers of LA Pride - acknowledges the work of one particular organization and this year chose the Task Force in honor of its 40th anniversary and the organization's mission to build the grassroots power of the LGBT community.

President Barack Obama issued a video statement that aired Friday before 3,000 LGBT rights advocates assembled in Atlanta this week for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 25th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change.

The recorded message comes just days following Obama’s second term inaugural address where he called for full LGBT equality.

WASHINGTON — As “fiscal cliff” deliberations intensify on Capitol Hill, a large coalition of LGBT groups and a key ally release a new report, “Caught in the Budget Battle: How the ‘Fiscal Showdown’ Impacts Gay and Transgender Americans.”

Whether you're a retail clerk, a mechanic, or a surgeon – if you're gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you shouldn't be forced to stay in the closet for fear of losing your job. Today, in 29 states LGBT people can be fired only because they're lesbian, gay, or bisexual. And in 34 states, people can be fired just because they're transgender — reasons completely unrelated to their work!