US President Biden has appointed the highest-ranking openly transgender official
Rachel Levine (63) is now an admiral in the US Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps. The appointment was made directly by US President Joe Biden, and she is the first transgender woman to hold an important government position.
Dr Rachel Levine herself described her appointment as “momentous” and “historic” and further that “may this appointment today be the first of others to come as we create a diverse and more inclusive future”.
Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said Dr Levine’s appointment was a “giant step towards equality as a nation”.
The BBC reports that Dr Levine is a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane University School of Medicine and has also served as Pennsylvania’s physician general and the state’s health secretary, working on many issues such as ‘responding to widespread opioid addiction’.