{"id":577014,"date":"2023-06-02T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/"},"modified":"2023-06-02T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T10:00:00","slug":"here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"#Here are the history-making LGBTQ officials in the Biden administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a414dd8abf44\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a414dd8abf44\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Pete_Buttigieg\" >Pete Buttigieg<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Karine_Jean-Pierre\" >Karine Jean-Pierre<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Ben_LaBolt\" >Ben LaBolt<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Rachel_Levine\" >Rachel Levine<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Ned_Price\" >Ned Price<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Chantale_Wong\" >Chantale Wong<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Shawn_Skelly\" >Shawn Skelly<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/#Federal_judges\" >Federal judges<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-01-Jun-2023-12-37-PM-1025.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As the Biden administration celebrates Pride Month, it boasts an array of officials in its ranks who represent historic firsts in their respective positions.<\/p>\n<p>White House officials frequently <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/06\/01\/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-administration-champions-lgbtq-equality-and-marks-pride-month\/\">tout<\/a> the diversity of the administration, including roughly 15 percent of all <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ointees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ).<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Here is a look at some of the LGBTQ officials who have made history in their roles as part of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pete_Buttigieg\"><\/span><strong>Pete Buttigieg<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Buttigieg is the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet member in U.S. history and has served as Transportation secretary in the Biden administration since February 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Buttigieg gained national attention during his 2020 presidential campaign, when he rose from relative anonymity as mayor of South Bend, Ind., to a major contender for the Democratic Party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Rick Grenell, who served as the acting director of national intelligence from February to May under President Trump, was the first openly LGBTQ Cabinet secretary but was not confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>After his nomination was announced in December 2020, Buttigieg recalled watching the confirmation hearing of James Hormel, an openly gay man nominated as an ambassador during the Clinton administration who faced staunch Republican opposition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, two decades later, I can\u2019t help but think of a 17-year-old somewhere who might be watching us right now, somebody who wonders whether and where they belong in the world or even in their own family,\u201d Buttigieg said at the time. \u201cAnd I\u2019m thinking about the message that today\u2019s announcement is sending to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Karine_Jean-Pierre\"><\/span><strong>Karine Jean-Pierre<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When Jean-Pierre stepped to the podium in the briefing room in May 2022 for her first briefing as press secretary, she acknowledged that she was breaking several barriers at once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am a Black, gay, immigrant woman, the first of all three of those to hold this position. I would not be here today if it were not for generations of barrier-breaking people before me. I stand on their shoulders,\u201d Jean-Pierre said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Jean-Pierre previously served as principal deputy press secretary in the Biden White House before taking on the press secretary job in May 2022.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>When she stepped in for then-press secretary Jen Psaki in May 2021 to hold a briefing, she became the first openly gay woman to deliver the White House press briefing and only the second Black woman to do so.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ben_LaBolt\"><\/span><strong>Ben LaBolt<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>An Obama administration veteran with ties to the Biden team, LaBolt is the first openly gay White House communications director.<\/p>\n<p>LaBolt worked in the press shop during the Obama administration, but he briefly joined the Biden White House last year to assist in the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Biden earlier this year brought LaBolt back into the fold, tapping him as his new communications director after the departure of longtime aide Kate Bedingfield.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rachel_Levine\"><\/span><strong>Rachel Levine<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Levine has served since 2021 as an assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services, becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in the public health corps, or across the uniformed services of the military.<\/p>\n<p>Levine was previously health secretary in Pennsylvania. She was confirmed by the Senate in March 2021 for her assistant secretary role, on a mostly party line vote of 52-48. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) supported her nomination.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Levine has served in a leadership role in the public health service, a team of more than 6,000 people who respond to public health crises and natural disasters. The team also played a role in COVID-19 vaccination efforts at the start of the administration.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ned_Price\"><\/span><strong>Ned Price<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Price served as the State Department press secretary for roughly two years, becoming the first openly gay individual to do so.<\/p>\n<p>As the face of the State Department\u2019s communications team, Price held more than 200 briefings as the agency addressed a slew of major foreign policy issues, including the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>He stepped down from the role in March to transition to a role working directly for Secretary of State Antony Blinken.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Price previously worked from 2006-2017 as a CIA and National Security Council staffer during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Chantale_Wong\"><\/span><strong>Chantale Wong<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With her confirmation in December 2021, Wong became the first out lesbian and first LGBTQ person of color to be confirmed to the rank of ambassador.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Wong serves as the Biden administration\u2019s director of the Asian Development Bank. The Senate voted 66-31 in late 2021 to confirm her to the position.<\/p>\n<p>Wong previously served in the Obama administration in positions in the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Shawn_Skelly\"><\/span><strong>Shawn Skelly<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Skelly is the highest ranking openly transgender Pentagon official and the second transgender person to ever be confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Skelly was confirmed in July 2021 as assistant secretary of Defense for readiness. A former Navy aviator, Skelly served on Biden\u2019s Pentagon transition team following the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>She is also the co-founder and vice president of Out in National Security, which advocates for increased representation of LGBT people in the national security workforce.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Federal_judges\"><\/span><strong>Federal judges<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In addition to the officials working throughout the Biden administration, there have been a slew of federal judges nominated and confirmed over the past two years that have broken barriers as LGBTQ jurists.<\/p>\n<p>Biden nominated the first two openly LGBTQ women ever to serve as federal circuit court judges in Beth Robinson of Vermont and Alison Nathan of New York, who both serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Charlotte Sweeney, who Biden nominated in April 2021, is the first openly LGBTQ district court judge to serve the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate in February voted to confirm Judge Ana Reyes as a district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, making her the first openly LGBTQ individual to serve as an Article III judge in the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n<p>Under Biden\u2019s presidency, Judge Gina M\u00e9ndez-Mir\u00f3 became the first openly LGBTQ federal district court judge in Puerto Rico, Judge Jamar Walker became the first openly LGBTQ Article III judge in Virginia, and Judge Daniel Calabretta became the first openly LGBTQ judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/4030255-here-are-the-history-making-lgbtq-officials-in-the-biden-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Biden administration celebrates Pride Month, it boasts an array of officials in its ranks who represent historic firsts in their respective positions. White House officials frequently tout the diversity of the administration, including roughly 15 percent of all appointees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). Here is a look&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":577015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/Collage-Maker-01-Jun-2023-12-37-PM-1025.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,73798,10574,991,23261,115,4999,110403],"class_list":["post-577014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-defense","tag-education","tag-joe-biden","tag-lgbtq","tag-news","tag-policy","tag-pride-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}