The White House Appoints First Openly Transgender Official

President Obama has announced that he has appointed the first openly transgender official to serve in the White House.

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, a former policy adviser at the National Centre for Transgender Equality,​ has been hired as the outreach and recruitment director at the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

In a statement from White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Freedman-Gurspan is described as someone who "demonstrates the kind of leadership this Administration champions."

"Her commitment to bettering the lives of transgender Americans, particularly transgender people of colour and those in poverty, reflects the values of this administration."

The move has received wide praise from the LGBT community, with National Centre for Transgender Equality Executive Director Mara Keisling releasing a statement to Politico, commending President Obama for the appointment.

"President Obama has long said he wants his administration to look like the American people. I have understood this to include transgender Americans," the statement read.

"A transgender person was inevitably going to work in the White House. That the first transgender appointee is a transgender woman of colour is itself significant. And that the first White House transgender appointee is of a friend is inspiring to me and to countless others who have been touched by Raffi's advocacy."

The move follows the Obama administrations recent announcement of their plans to lift the ban on transgender troops and their 2014 executive order which banned workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender government workers and contractors.

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