Several gay Atlantans have been named to a working panel to try to find ways to reduce prostitution in the city following backlash over a proposed ordinance to "banish" prostitutes.

Some on the list will not come as surprises to those who followed the controversy, including Peggy Denby, president of the Midtown-Ponce Security Alliance — the only person who spoke out in favor of banishing prostitutes at public hearings. Denby has said she has a particular problem with "men" prostitutes. These include cross dressers and transgender people.

Gay leaders are part of the mix, too, including Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality.

Since the Phillip Rush Center’s inception, organizers have shied away from using the term “community center” to describe the Candler Park LGBT facility where dozens of groups meet and numerous town hall forums have been held.

Several attempts at an LGBT community center in Atlanta had failed and Linda Ellis, executive director of the Health Initiative, and Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, administrators of the Rush Center, wanted to avoid any kind of “curse” the title may have.

But now Ellis and Graham, after conducting a strategic planning process, are embracing the term because, well, that’s what the Rush Center has become.