The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has issued the following press release:
Amanda Simpson, who has served on NCTE's Board of Directors for the past three years, has been appointed by the Obama Administration as a Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce. She'll be working in the Bureau of Industry and Security.
“I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me,” said Simpson. “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.”
Simpson brings considerable professional credentials to her new job. For 30 years, she has worked in the aerospace and defense industry, most recently serving as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. She holds degrees in physics, engineering and business administration, along with an extensive flight background. She is a certified flight instructor and test pilot with 20 years of experience.
She has also been very active in political and community groups. She has served on the Board of Directors of two national organizations: Out & Equal and NCTE. In Arizona, she has been on the board of Wingspan, the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, the Southern Arizona ACLU and the Arizona Human Rights Fund (now Equality Arizona).
In 2004, the YWCA recognized her as one of their “Women on the Move,” and in the same year, she won the Democratic nomination to the Arizona House of Representatives. In 2005, she was given the Arizona Human Rights Foundation Individual Award.
We are delighted to welcome Amanda to Washington, D.C., and share her hope that she will be joined by many other transgender people and our allies in serving our government.
Comments
Fascinating article, Matt. Maybe the Obama Administration really is about "change", if you will excuse the pun. Seriously, I actually voted for the man, and this is, hopefully, a sign of even more "Liberal" actions.
it fits with the government, pretending to be something they are not, a he she, how sick is that.
...and we thought the GOP was bad huh boys and girls??
In my 40 years, I have never seen a worst adminitration...period.
I am truly ashamed to be called an American.
Amanda is one of my best friends. She was appointed to this position based on her education and work history. She is one of the most dynamic, determined, incredible women I know. Raytheon was damn lucky to have her.
All the petty insults from the ignorant posters here won't faze her one bit.
Congratulations Amanda!!!! Go get 'em :)
Simpson and other like him can try to LOOK like the opposite sex but when it comes right down to it actual sex change is impossible. You can't change DNA. Simpson's DNA says he is a man.
Simpson and others like him can try to LOOK like the opposite sex but when it comes right down to it actual sex change is impossible. You can't change DNA. Simpson's DNA says he is a man.
@ Disgusted.. Not sick at all, and I'm sure you're a pretender yourself.
@ NY CL... If you're so ashamed then leave the country and never come back. We don't need backward minded people like you anyway.
@ Deena Mayle... Is that the best argument you can come up with? Really?? If she were a bilogical female would it really matter what she was? She still has the credentials to do the job.
As for the article, more power to her. Live long and Prosper Ms. Simpson!
NY CL: I bet you're both a latent homosexual and a paedophile.
Many people who think they're morally superior and conservative (like the priests) are. And we know that many of those Republicans who hate gays do so because they are not sure about their own sexuality.
Move to Iran if you are ashamed to be an American. Ahmadinejiad said it himself: they don't have gays in Iran.
It is really too bad that some people are so uninformed about issues of gender. It is not now nor has it ever been what is between your legs that defines your gender. Rather it is your brain that defines your gender. DNA has nothing to do with gender, just your biological sex. Your assigned sex and your gender are two distinctly different things. Your political bent, your religion, your social status have nothing what so ever to do with your gender either.
I am a proud transsexual MtF, Conservative republican, born again Christian that just so happens to have been born with a birth defect 56 years ago. No doubt due to the DES given to my mother when she was pregnant and carrying me in the womb. People really need to become more informed and less judgemental about these issues. Amanda Simpson is every bit a female gender as I am and every other transsexual. It is not a choice to be transsexual, it is a birth defect like any other birth defect. It just so happens this one is the brain.
@Deena Mayle...One's sex may not be as static as some seem to think. Check out a recent article in the Telegraph titled "
Battle of the sexes - one gene keeps us either male or female, scientists find:
Women and men are constantly battling to suppress their masculine and feminine sides - at least biologically, claim scientists".
The reality is that the majority of people alive do not know their own chromosomal makeup. Most people are not tested for chromosomes unless there is a medical concern. Regardless, Amanda Simpson got her position based on her skills and experience. She has an impressive record that, in my opinion, can hardly be argued with. If all of us--trans or not--could only do as well as Ms. Simpson has. She is certainly someone to look up to.
Phony, Phony, Phony, just like the Obama Administration, Phony. They have to do their dirty work in the dark.
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