EXCLUSIVE: A handful of Biden administration political appointees previously worked for prominent progressive advocacy groups including Planned Parenthood and touted work on “woke” issues such as “health equity” and “queer liberation,” according to documents shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.
Resumes of current Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials were obtained by America First Legal through the Freedom of Information Act. The individuals all were nominated and served time on the Biden administration’s Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). They were sworn into their positions by transgender Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine in August 2021.
The PACHA advises the federal government on how to counter the spread of HIV and largely consists of scientists, professors, and researchers at prominent universities, nonprofits and biomedical companies.
Adrian Shanker previously worked for the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, which hosts events such as drag queen story hour for children featuring books such as “Heather Has Two Mommies.”
Shanker touts on his resume that he worked on books and journals such as “From Gloryholes and Vaccine Advocacy: The Journey of Queer Health Activism During COVID-19” and “What Health Equity Means for Queer Liberation.” He also lists a series of projects on anal health titled “That A– Tho!”
Shanker left his position at PACHA in October when he was appointed to be a senior advisor on LGBTQI+ Health Equity for Levine, a transgender woman, at HHS.
Raniyah Copeland worked as the president and CEO of the Black Aids Institute. She includes on her resume of how she instituted “organizational change by championing HIV in Black America as a racial justice issue.” Copeland previously worked at Planned Parenthood as a “reproductive health assistant.”
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Tori Cooper worked for the Human Rights Campaign as the director of the group’s Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative. Cooper largely works on HIV issues for transgender people as she was employed by the Transgender Law Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kayla Quimbley was appointed as a youth activist and organizer on HIV awareness for Advocates for Youth, an organization known for its “3Rs” sex education curriculum it promotes to schools that teaches elementary students about gender identity and instructs high school students to role-play gay and transgender couples who decide to be sexually active.
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Leonard Moore worked as the medical director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Moore lists on his resume under his “community service” section that he was a “radio show discussant” for The Donta Show, where he had a segment titled: “Raw! The Joys of Condom-less Sex.”
Guillermo Chacón worked as the president for the Latino Commission on AIDS. Chacón was previously appointed in 2020 by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., to the New York Vaccine Equity Taskforce.
He was appointed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, D-N.Y., in 2019 to serve as “NYC Commissioner of Human Rights, the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) as chair for the community advisory board and the Committee on New York City Healthcare Services.”
The White House did not meet a deadline for comment, but after publication of the story, it sent as response a shirt captioned, “Uncle Sam doesn’t care, snowflakes.”
“This is our statement, on the record,” Andrew Bates, deputy press secretary of the White House, told Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for HHS said the agency stands by its appointees.
“The AIDS council is comprised of subject matter experts who understand the lived experiences of HIV-positive individuals and have dedicated their lives to stopping the spread of this deadly disease,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Every American should want qualified individuals on the council who are committed to saving lives.”