Mayor John J. Duran was elected to the West Hollywood City Council on March 6, 2001. Mayor Duran, a native Angeleno, received his juris doctorate degree from Western State University in Orange County, and leads one of Southern California’s most prominent law firms on issues of Gay and Lesbian rights and AIDS law. Mayor Duran has represented more than 1,000 clients with AIDS on issues ranging from discrimination to hate crimes. Mayor Duran’s current legal practice focuses on civil rights. Throughout his career, Mayor Duran has worked to defend human rights. His many prominent legal cases include Kolcum v. L.A. County, where he successfully sued Los Angeles County for denying medication to inmates with HIV/AIDS. Mayor Duran’s defense of human rights extends outside of his legal practice into many activist and volunteer activities. He was a founding board member of ANGLE (Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality) from 1989 to the present date. Mayor Duran’s awards and recognitions include the Labor Day L.A. Humanitarian Award, which he received for dedication to human rights and AIDS activism. Mayor Duran was also named the 1990 Los Angeles Gay Pride Man of the Year by Christopher Street West and Man of the Year in 1989 by Orange County’s Gay and Lesbian Pride Celebration.

Courtesy of www.weho.org