Obama Appoints Amanda Simpson, First... | Gather
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5/26/2011 2:46 PM
Obama Appoints Amanda Simpson, First... | Gather
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http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976107...
Obama Appoints Amanda Simpson, First Transgender Appointee as Advisor
by Abby Cooper Member since: November 26, 2009
January 04, 2010 02:34 PM EST views: 791 | 4 people recommend this | comments: 1
President Obama is ringing in the first days of this new decade with some "firsts" of his own. The administration will go down in history books not only as the first administration led by a black man, but also as the first to appoint an openly transgender individual to administrative office. Amanda Simpson (49), former Deputy Director in the Advanced Technology Development in an Arizona missiles system firm known as Raytheon, has been appointed to the position of Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security. The Bureau is responsible for protecting national security through the management of international trade, enforcement of treaties, and promotion of homeland, economic and cyber security. Simpson has a varied but impressive educational background, with degrees in business administration, engineering, and physics, she is also a certified flight instructor with 20 years of experience, but found her true calling in the aerospace and defense industry where she has been employed for three decades. When Simpson signed on to work for Raytheon, she had already begun to consider a gender transition, but wanted to find a workplace where she could be supportive while she underwent an enormous life change. Having found Raytheon to be the type of place where she could comfortably make the transition, she began the six year medical process. Since then, Simpson has been openly transgender for several years, and in 2005 pushed Raytheon to pioneer a very progressive gender equality and equal employment opportunity policy. Simpson also shares custody of her 13 year old son with her former spouse. Simpson, a Chicago native, has long wanted to get into the political arena, having served as the Democratic nominee to run for the Arizona House of Representatives in 2005 and serving as a delegate for then-Senator Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Simpson is also a member of the Board of Directors for two organizations, the National Center for Transgender and Out & Equal. She has also served on the board of Wingspan (a Southern Arizona Gender Alliance), Southern Arizona ACLU, and Equity Arizona. In the past decade she has also been received several awards including the YWCA "Women on the Move" award, and the Arizona Human Rights Foundation Individual Award. The appointment follows through on a statement made by Brian Bond, the liaison of the White House Office of Public Engagement promising that LGBT's would have a more visable role in the current administration. At the current time however, the White House had no comment on her appointment. Simpson was quoted saying: ''I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.''
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5/26/2011 2:46 PM
Obama Appoints Amanda Simpson, First... | Gather
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http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976107...
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5/26/2011 2:46 PM