WASHINGTON, D.C. – It is being hailed as a step forward for equal rights and a big move for President Obama. The White House has appointed the first transgender person to ever work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan.
She will be working in the Office of Personnel, and has a long history in government jobs. Freedman-Gurspan most recently worked at the national center for transgender equality, but got her start in municipal and state jobs in Massachusetts., advocating for LGBT rights and policies.
And she’s actually been a critic of the Obama administration’s policies in the past, calling out the president’s immigration policy and the pay-gap and unemployment that affects the trans community.
It turns out, too, that Freedman-Gurspan is not the first trans trailblazer in the nation’s capitol. The Commerce Department, the Labor Department, and Commission on White House Fellowships have all had transgender employees.
And now the White House evolves to reflect changes spreading over the entire country.
