Obama Appoints Transgendered Woman to Commerce Department Post

President Obama has named Amanda Simpson, a transgendered woman, to be the senior technical adviser to the Commerce Department. Simpson would be the first known transgendered presidential appointment.

"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me," Simpson said in a statement released by the National Center for Transgender Equality. "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."

Simpson -- a former test pilot and 2004 YWCA "Woman On The Move" -- has been active in the aerospace and defense industry for the past 30 years. She most recently served as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development for Raytheon, where she transitioned from male to female.

Brian Bond, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and LGBT-community liaison, said at the November 2009 Equality NC Conference that there would be transgendered appointments by the administration in the first term and that first would be coming up "sooner than you think."