Monday, January 04, 2010

Obama Appoints Transgender to Senior Post

He was test pilot Mitchell Simpson, but now she is Amanda Simpson, President Obama's Senior Technical Advisor at the Commerce Department.

-- From "President Obama Names Transgender Appointee to Commerce Department" by Jake Tapper, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent 1/4/10

The White House had no comment on her appointment.

At Raytheon, Simpson -- a former test pilot who had worked for the company for more than a generation -- 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.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Amanda Simpson, formerly test pilot Mitchell Simpson, gets senior post in Commerce department" by Michael Saul, Daily News Staff Writer 1/4/10

"As one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds," Simpson said in a statement.

In 2004, Simpson became the first openly transgendered candidate to win a primary election in the U.S. in a bid for the Arizona state legislature.
A Democrat, she lost in the general election.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.