President Obama Appoints Transgender Amanda Simpson
In another bold move, President Obama recently named Amanda Simpson to be a Senior Technical Advisor to the Commerce Department.
Of course, many Americans will be confused and freaked out by this. Many Americans do not understand Lesbian and Gay - let alone Transgender. But could you ever see Bush doing something like this?? He couldn't even say the word GAY. Kudos again to Obama for being the first inclusive President!
Simpson, who is transgender, will be working in the Bureau of Industry and Security.
"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me," she said in a press release by the National Center for Transgender Equality, an organization for which she has served on the board of directors. "And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others."
A 2004 YWCA "Woman on the Move," Simpson recently served as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona.
At Raytheon, Simpson -- a former test pilot who had worked for the company for more than 25 years -- transitioned from male to female and was instrumental in convincing the military contractor to add gender identity and expression to its equal employment opportunity policy.
She later ran unsuccessfully for Congress and was a delegate for then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, to the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
She tells ABC news, "Being the first sucks. I'd rather not be the first but someone has to be first, or among the first. I think I'm experienced and very well qualified to deal with anything that might show up because I've broken barriers at lots of other places and I always win people over with who I am and what I can do. [There will be] questions like: Is this a token? Are you here to do a job or just to fill a quota or appease other people? In that regard it makes it a bit more difficult. I'm sure I will have to do and intend to do a far superior job than any other person. But I'm sure I will always be second guessed."
Obama is headed to a quick record on LGBT appointments: "The Obama administration appointed about 100 openly LGBT Americans in the first year of the president's term, according to statistics compiled by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which provides financial and campaign support to LGBT political candidates. President Bill Clinton’s administration appointed about 140 during his eight years in office."
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