The White House Has Hired Its First Openly Transgender Member of Staff

Raffi will serve as outreach and recruitment director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, officials announced yesterday. Raffi, a transgender woman of color, previously worked as a policy adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality. Her appointment marks the latest step in President Barack Obama’s public support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Obama in the beginning opposed gay marriage but came out in support of it in 2012 and has made LGBT rights a priority of his time in office. Obama has helped to end the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy that prevented openly gay service men and women from serving in the military. 

The Department of Defense is in the middle of a review of the policy that effectively prohibits transgender men and women from serving in the military, and the White House has said it welcomes that move. According to the Obama’s administrations, the new hire was a reflection of the its priorities and presents the look of the American people.

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