The position builds on work he's been doing for decades, as an advocate and as a 21 year employee with the Chicago Department of Public Health.
He was the first gay, Black man to serve as the LGBTQ+ Health and Outreach Liaison.
King says the city of Chicago needed a director of LGBTQ+ affairs.
Part 1 - Our Chicago: The City's First Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs
"We asked for it a couple of administrations ago. And during his campaign, Mayor Johnson promised, I remember being at one of the listening sessions, and he said specifically, I will make sure that I appoint someone at our executive level in this position."
And he did.
"The focus for six months has been prepare to do the Mayor's LGBTQ policy plan. Mayor Johnson initially when I was hired mandated that that was something he wanted to do for this position and the citizens of Chicago. Period. So, that's what I've been working on the past six months," he said.
King says there are six priorities right now, starting with youth and young adults.
"Addressing bullying and mental health issues and working with CPS schools," King also says they want address aging LGBTQ adults. "As we age, we don't always have family or children who can help us or advocate for us on a medical level or to help us safeguard our finances."
Part 2 - Our Chicago: The City's First Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs
A third priority is training employees in all city departments and enlighten them, "concerning pronouns, what that actually means. So many in the mainstream do not understand what that means to someone else to be called by a desired pronoun or by a name. Especially when we're talking about our trans siblings. We're also talking about what the terminology means and why we have so many letters of the alphabet of LGBTQIA+."
June is Pride Month and King says this year it feels different.
"I've never been in this position before. I've done many Prides, many years. I've marched for marriage equality, I've marched with many agencies in the Pride Parade. This is going to be the very first time that I will be marching with the mayor as an executive level position."
"The last time I marched was with a previous mayor but it was with an agency. This time I am marching with the mayor in solidarity with our community, with my community as the executive level director of LGBTQ affairs the very first one in the city of Chicago. The third largest city in the country."