Links
Obama appoints first openly transgender person to post
Amanda Simpson starts work this week as the first presidentially appointed transgender person to the executive branch of any administration.
The Obama administration in November appointed Simpson, a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality board of directors, to a post at the Department of Commerce.
Simpson, 49 and a native of Chicago, will serve as Senior Technical Advisor in the Bureau of Industry and Security. The Bureau's mission is to protect national security through the management of international trade, the enforcement of treaties, and the promotion of economic, cyber, and homeland security.
"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me," said Simpson, in a prepared statement released by Transgender Equality on Dec. 31. "And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government," she said, "I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others."