Articles- Collected Articles For The Transgender Community

by Lisa Keen of The BAR

Amanda Simpson starts work this week as one of the first presidentially-appointed transgender persons to the executive branch of any administration. The honor of the first belongs to Dylan Orr, a 30-year-old law school graduate from Seattle.

The Obama administration appointed both Simpson and Orr in late November. Orr began work on December 7 as special assistant to Assistant Secretary of Labor Kathleen Martinez in the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the Department of Labor.

Simpson, 49, began work on Tuesday as senior technical adviser in the Bureau of Industry and Security in the Commerce Department. The bureau’s mission is to protect national security through the management of international trade, the enforcement of treaties, and the promotion of economic, cyber, and homeland security.

Orr, a native of Seattle, graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in July and was admitted to the bar in November. During law school, his studies focused on disability rights, civil rights, and employment and immigration issues. He served as president of the law school’s GLBT student organization. He did his undergraduate work at Smith College in Massachusetts, and also worked for a time with the Department of Social Services in Salem, Massachusetts.
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from the National Center for Transgender Equality

Amanda Simpson, who has served on NCTE’s Board of Directors for the past 3 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. 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.”
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