Obama Names Transgender Appointee

President Obama has named Amanda Simpson to serve as a senior technical adviser to the Commerce Department, making her one of the first transgender presidential appointees. Simpson, a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality’s board of directors, is former test pilot who previously worked as deputy director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems, ABC reports.

“As one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds,” she said in a statement, “and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.” (More Amanda Simpson stories.)