President Obama has always been known to pretty much be one of the coolest presidents we’ve ever had. Yesterday, he did something that will definitely go down in the history books: He has appointed the first openly transgender official to serve in the White House.
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan will serve as an outreach and recruitment director in the White Office of Presidential Personnel. Raffi was previously a policy adviser at the National Center of Transgender Equality (NCTE) but she is definitely making great strides for the LGBT community.
NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling has expressed nothing but support for Raffi and stated:
President Obama has long said he wants his administration to look like the American people. I have understood this to include transgender American. That the first transgender appointee is a transgender woman of color is itself significant. And that the first White House transgender appointee is of a friend is inspiring to me and to countless others who have been touched by Raffi’s advocacy.
President Obama has always shown nothing but support for the LGBT community. Last year, he signed an executive order to ban workplace discrimination against LGBT government workers and contractors. He has also condemned certain therapies that try to “fix” gay and transgender teens and created a gender-neutral bathroom in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
This is extremely important for the LGBT youth: it will allow people to know that there is someone who a part of their community who wasn’t held back in their career just for being transgender. Kudos to the administration for ensuring that their staff comes from diverse backgrounds to represent the White House as a whole.
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