March 20, 2024

Los Angeles, CA – Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath has appointed two Los Angeles LGBTQ+ trailblazers to the inaugural Los Angeles County LGBTQ+ Commission, created through a Board action last June.

At the March 19 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the Board unanimously approved Supervisor Horvath’s two historic appointees: Alejandro Soria and Sydney Rogers, known as Miss Barbie-Q.

“I am so excited that Sydney Rogers and Alejandro Soria have accepted our invitation to serve Los Angeles County as the Third District’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Commissioners,” said Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath. “Their expertise, lived experience, and passion for uplifting all of our LGBTQ+ family, especially in this difficult time, are needed now more than ever. I look forward to working together to deliver for our LGBTQ+ communities and to ensure Los Angeles County is a place where everyone is welcomed, supported, and empowered.”

Alejandro Soria is a licensed marriage and family therapist who spent his professional career working with and advocating for LGBTQ+ families and individuals in the San Fernando Valley. A resident of Sylmar, Alejandro currently is the Senior Director of Outpatient Mental Health at the Village Family Services. He also is a private practitioner in the City of San Fernando, providing therapeutic services to children and adults. He is happily married and lives with his husband in Sylmar and brings deep passion and knowledge of the San Fernando Valley’s LGBTQ+ community to all of his work.

“As a proud San Fernando Valley resident and proud member of our strong and resilient LGBTQ+ community, I am honored for the opportunity to serve my community on the inaugural LA County LGBTQ+ Commission. As a mental health clinician with years of service to San Fernando Valley families, I am eager to offer my services and expertise to deliver for our communities,” said Alejandro Soria.

Sydney Rogers, also known as Miss Barbie-Q, is an activist, entertainer, and social worker who currently serves as the Equity Manager of Community Programs at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Program Manager of the Trans Economic Empowerment Project. She identifies as a a long-term sober, formerly unhoused Black Trans Femme sex worker who has fought to bring visibility and understanding to the TGI community throughout Los Angeles County. She is the recipient of the 2023 Williams Institute/Trans Latina Coalition UniTy Community Leadership Award. Sydney has worked in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Hollywood, and throughout the Third Supervisorial District of Los Angeles County.

“As anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and acts of violence increase day over day, I am grateful to Supervisor Horvath for recognizing the importance and necessity of uplifting Black and TGI voices at this critical time,” said Sydney Rogers. “As a drag artist and entertainer, our experiences in Los Angeles County matter. I am ready to bring my lived experience and that of so many others to LA County’s LGBTQ+ Commission, and it will be my priority to speak up for the most forgotten members of our community.”

The Los Angeles County LGBTQ+ Commission will be seated and hold its first meeting in the coming months.

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