(Washington Blade file photo by Pete Exis)

The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., announced on Wednesday that it has named local LGBT activists June Crenshaw and Sterling Washington and D.C. Office of Human Rights Director Monica Palacio as recipients of its 2016 Distinguished Service Award.

The group says it presents the annual award to individuals and organizations that have served with distinction the LGBT community in the nation’s capital and the surrounding metropolitan area.

Crenshaw serves as chair of the Board of the Rainbow Response Coalition, which addresses issues related to domestic violence affecting the LGBT community. Crenshaw also serves as a board member and emeritus chair of Whitman-Walker Health as well as a member of the Board of Governors of the Human Rights Campaign. She previously served on the Community Advisory Board of Lesbian Services Programs and Black Lesbian Support Group at Whitman-Walker.

Washington served as director of the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs for two years under the administration of Mayor Vincent Gray. Prior to that post, Washington served as Resource and Grant Development Manager for the D.C.-based national group Center for Black Equity and worked on various projects for the D.C. AIDS services group Us Helping Us-People Into Living, Inc.

Palacio, an attorney, has served as the city’s Office of Human Rights director since March 2014. She is credited with initiating a groundbreaking six-month OHR study in 2015 that revealed anti-transgender job discrimination by 48 percent of city employers. GLAA says in a write-up that she brings “twenty years of experience in civil rights, strengthening communities in crisis and coalition building for social justice.” She previously directed the OHR’s Language Access program and served as a member of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights.

GLAA says the awards will be presented at the group’s 45th Anniversary Reception on April 21 at Policy Restaurant and Lounge at 1904 14th St., N.W.