Out labor leader tapped for U.S. government post
President Barack Obama has named Mary Beth Maxwell, the out executive director of American Rights at Work, to a senior post in the U.S. Department of Labor. Maxwell, who reportedly was a finalist for labor secretary, is among more than 30 out presidential appointments. GayPolitics.com (4/27) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/out-labor-lea…
Obama’s 100-day gay report card
This Wednesday marks the 100th day since President Obama took the oath of office and, for the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, never-before-experienced access to and inclusion in the federal government — although the LGBT community is still awaiting the appointment of an openly gay individual to the president’s cabinet.
Since taking office, Obama has appointed at least 35 openly LGBT individuals to federal posts. Nine of these employees were nominated for positions that required Senate confirmation, making Obama the first president ever to choose LGBT individuals for such positions within the first 100 days of the presidency.
Among the top LGBT appointments are John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management; Fred Hochberg as chair of the Export-Import Bank; Kathy Martinez as assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy; Marisa Demeo as associate judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; Nancy Sutley as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; and Mercedes Marquez as the assistant secretary for community planning and development and Raphael Bostic as assistant secretary for policy development and research, both at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. See Obama’s 100-day gay report card
Philadelphia Gay News * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/obamas-100-da…
Gay rights pastor appointed to Obama advisory panel
(Washington) A Pentecostal bishop who has challenged Democrats on abortion and a representative of a national gay rights group are among nine new members of a White House advisory council.
President Barack Obama announced the appointments of Bishop Charles E. Blake and Harry Knox on Monday, filling out a 25-person roster …
Tags: Abortion, Advisory Council, Advisory Panel, Appointments, barack obama, Council President, Democrats, Gay Rights Group, Pentecostal, White HouseGay man to be named to top White House post
The days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama have brought a virtual cascade of LGBT-related political developments: nine new appointments were revealed to be in the works, a gesture was made, and an unexpected skeleton emerged from a completely overlooked archival closet.
Most significant by far, in terms of political importance, are the new appointments, albeit in various stages of being vetted, finalized, and announced.
Openly gay National Zoo Director John Berry is being named to head the Office of Personnel Management. It’s a tad short of the secretary of interior position gay leaders had hoped for but it’s the highest-ranking position ever for an openly gay appointee. The Office of Personnel Management, with more than 5,000 employees and an annual budget of about $1.5 billion, is the hiring agency of the federal government’s 3 million-strong civilian workforce.
See Gay man to be named to top White House post
Bay Area Reporter, CA
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/gay-man-to-be…
Gay Former Clinton Aide Lashes Out at Obama Over Warren
It’s becoming clear that while the gay rights movement’s leaders are thrilled with Obama’s invitation to Gene Robinson to join inauguration festivities, lots of its rank and file are still deeply distressed over Rick Warren giving the invocation on Inauguration Day. As a reporter, it’s often tricky figuring out if a movement’s—any movement, from the Christian right to the antiwar left—spokespeople are truly representing whom they claim to speak for.
Without polls, it’s really impossible to know.
But I’m getting more and more angry comments and E-mails from members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community furious with their nominal leaders. This E-mail from a former Clinton White House aide who requested anonymity captures the lingering anger over Warren:
. . . [T]he problem here goes well beyond Warren’s incendiary language equating gay marriage with incest. He is what he is. The greater problem lies in the President-Elect’s cruel calculation that this insult and offense to gay America is acceptable collateral damage for whatever plus he sees in the suck-up to Warren, giving profile and platform to this mega-merchant of discrimination in the first program agenda item during the first official act of his first day in office. I was one of the 12 first-ever openly gay White House staff members to take up work the day following President Clinton’s inauguration. His respect for gay Americans was evident even when setbacks and disappointments slowed the change agenda, and he certainly did not deliberately nor unnecessarily scheme to sell out gay Americans on his first day in office to score points with opponents. Ordinary gay Americans will need to hold this new Administration to the tenets of its campaign and to the idealism of its Inaugural language — and to a fundamental expectation for respect. The Warren invitation remains a disgrace and a blemish on day one of the new Administration. Shame on Obama.
For a lot of LGBT folks, the heartburn over Warren will linger awhile. But what if Obama delivers on a major LGBT political goal in his first term, something like ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” like the president-elect’s spokesman recently promised? It’s hard to imagine the current gay ambivalence over Obama outlasting such a huge advance for the LGBT cause. The reality of policy would quickly overwhelm symbolic concerns.
See Gay Former Clinton Aide Lashes Out at Obama Over Warren
U.S. News & World Report, DC
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/gay-former-cl…
Gay Appointments Appear Likely In Obama Administration
A December 11 meeting between members of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team and dozens of gay and lesbian activists has fueled speculation of openly gay appointments in an Obama administration.
With half the senior White House staff chosen, gay activists have increased their concern over the lack of a gay appointment to a cabinet level position.
And while no openly gay, bisexual or transgender person has ever served in one of the fifteen cabinet secretary positions, gay activists believe they have a strong case this year.
See Gay Appointments Appear Likely In Obama Administration
On Top Magazine, OH
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/gay-appointme…
Bigot aLert: Forida Plans To Appeal Gay Adoption Ruling
This isn’t much of a shock, but the Florida Attorney General’s office says it is planning to appeal last months ruling by a Miami judge that overturned Florida’s gay adoption ban. Technically, I believe, they could have just let it be, but that never seemed likely. On one hand, yes, the ruling could be overturned, on the other, a Florida Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay adoption would solidify the overturn of the ban and could provide valuable precedent for Gay right’s in Florida. Plus, like we’ve mentioned, this is shaping up to be a very different case than the last time the Supreme Court upheld the ban in 1995. So the State is going to have to come up with a stronger case. Though, by the time this does go up to the supreme court (if it does), Charlie Crist may have made two more right-leaning appointments to the bench. See State Plans To Appeal Gay Adoption Ruling Miami New Times
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/bigot-alert-f…
