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Raffi
Freedman-Gurspan, a transgender woman who has worked as a policy
adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality, will
serve as outreach and recruitment director in the White House
Office of Presidential Personnel.
Obama, who is currently on vacation on the Massachusetts island
of Martha's Vineyard, initially opposed gay marriage but came
out in favor of it in 2012 and has made LGBT rights a priority
of his time in office, helping to end the "don't ask, don't
tell" policy that prevented openly gay service men and women
from serving in the military.
The transgender community has received less attention from his
administration. The Department of Defense is in the middle of a
review of the policy that effectively prohibits transgender men
and women from serving in the military, and the White House has
said it welcomes that move.
Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president who has been
active on LGBT issues, said the new hire was a reflection of the
administration's priorities.
“Raffi Freedman-Gurspan demonstrates the kind of leadership this
administration champions," Jarrett said in a statement.
"Her commitment to bettering the lives of transgender Americans,
particularly transgender people of color and those in poverty,
reflects the values of this administration."
The NCTE, where Freedman-Gurspan has worked as an adviser on
racial and economic justice, welcomed the appointment.
"President Obama has long said he wants his administration to
look like the American people. I have understood this to include
transgender Americans," said NCTE Executive Director Mara
Keisling in a statement.
"A transgender person was inevitably going to work in the White
House," she added. "That the first transgender appointee is a
transgender woman of color is itself significant."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Bill Rigby)
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