Dyer out at GLBT Affairs Office

Christopher Dyer, who has served as director of the city’s Office of GLBT Affairs since 2007 under Mayor Adrian Fenty, was notified last week that Mayor-elect Vincent Gray will not be retaining him for the post when Gray takes office in January.

Dyer was among more than a dozen high-level Fenty appointees to receive a notice from the Gray transition team accepting the written resignations they submitted after Gray won election as mayor in November.

Under longstanding city protocol, all political appointees of an outgoing mayoral administration submit letters of resignation to the incoming mayor. The incoming mayor usually accepts the resignations of most of the officials but often chooses to retain some of them — either as interim or permanent appointees in the new administration.

“Its been an honor to serve the Mayor and LGBT residents of the District of Columbia,” Dyer said this week. “This has been an amazing experience for me and I am very fortunate to be given the opportunity to work a dream job. I look forward to providing whatever help appropriate to the incoming administration.”

Like other Fenty appointees to be replaced, Dyer is expected to remain in office until Dec. 30. Gray is to be sworn in as mayor Jan. 2.

Gray said last week that he expects to name a new head of the GLBT Affairs Office within the next week or two.

Sources familiar with the Gray transition team say Jeffrey Richardson, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, which endorsed Gray for mayor, and Christopher Fitzgerald, head of Gray Pride, an LGBT arm of the Gray election campaign, are among those Gray is considering for the LGBT Affairs post.

LGBT and AIDS activists were also waiting to see who Gray names as head of the city’s Human Rights Office and AIDS office and whether he retains or replaces D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.