Activist Vetted For Labor Secretary Would Be First Openly Gay Cabinet Member

The Wall Street Journal reports on Obama’s possible pick for Labor Secretary, Mary Beth Maxwell:

For the rainbow cabinet of the nation’s first African American president, Mary Beth Maxwell is the perfect labor secretary you’ve probably never heard of: a gay woman, community organizer and labor leader with an adopted African American son. And this founding executive director of American Rights at Work is about to get the full-court press.

Maxwell already had the strong backing of former Rep. David Bonior, who despite repeated attempts to get his name removed from consideration continues to be on the short list of potential labor secretaries. Bonior, 63 years old, says it is time for his generation to turn over power to a new generation, and Maxwell, whose labor-backed organization pushes for expanded collective bargaining rights, is his pick.

As Marc Ambinder notes, “Maxwell, who’d be the first openly gay cabinet secretary, is being vetted for the job, along with Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.”

Read Maxwell’s blog posts for HuffPost.

See Activist Vetted For Labor Secretary Would Be First Openly Gay Cabinet Member