The White House makes historic hire, adds first openly transgender woman to senior staff position

A historic hire for the White House staff.

A historic hire for the White House staff.

Congratulations Raffi Freedman-Gurspan! She's the first openly trans person to join the ranks of the official White House staff. From the Washington Blade:

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, who formerly served in trans advocacy as policy adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality’s Racial & Economic Justice Initiative, has been appointed to a senior position in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. She’s set to begin her new role as an outreach and recruitment director in the Presidential Personnel Office on Tuesday.

It is not a first for the Obama administration, but it is a first for the White House:

The Obama administration has appointed openly transgender people into federal government positions before, but no appointee so far could be considered a White House staffer. For example, President Obama appointed Dylan Orr in 2009 as special assistant in the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, although he’s since left the government. Another openly trans Obama appointee is Amanda Simpson, who’s currently executive director of the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives. In June, Obama named Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, as another senior openly trans official by appointing him to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.