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Transgender woman Rachel Levine confirmed to US health post, a first
WASHINGTON, March 25, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The US Senate took the historic
step Wednesday of confirming pediatrician Rachel Levine as President Joe
Biden’s assistant secretary of health, making her the highest-ranking
transgender official to serve in the federal government.
Levine was leading the Pennsylvania Department of Health when Biden tapped
her for the national post in January, in a notable first for the LGBTQ
community.
The pick was also a contrast to policies of previous president Donald
Trump that were seen as discriminatory.
The confirmation vote was 52 to 48, with two Republicans joining all
Democrats in support of Levine, a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at
Penn State College of Medicine.
As assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, the
63-year-old will be part of the team leading the fight against the
coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the deaths of more than 545,000 people
in the United States.
The Senate last week confirmed California attorney general Xavier Becerra
as the new health secretary, the first Latino to head the department.
“Dr. Levine becoming the first openly transgender American to earn the
confirmation of the Senate is a watershed moment in US history,” Matt Hill, a
White House spokesman, said on Twitter.
“A government of the people, by the people, and for the people — ALL
people.”
Lambda Legal, which promotes civil rights of the lesbian, gay and
transgender community, celebrated Levine’s confirmation as marking “the
return of science, competence, and empathy to one of the most important
institutions in our government and at one of the most critical public health
moments in our nation’s history.”
Biden became the first president-elect to thank transgender supporters
during his election victory speech, on November 7 in his hometown of
Wilmington, Delaware.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0816 hrs