With her confirmation as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Rachel Levine has made LGBTQ history, becoming the first-ever transgender person in history confirmed to a Cabinet-level government position. Dr. Levine was approved by the Senate with a vote of 52 to 48.
In a statement following the vote, Liz Seaton, policy director of National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, said, “Dr. Levine’s confirmation by the Senate today sends a strong message, especially to the LGBTQ people of this country: please step forward to serve — your nation needs you and your expertise.”
According to Kate Sosin of independent, nonprofit newsroom The 19th, “Levine, who departs her role as Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, secured confirmations from a Republican-controlled Senate in her home state three times. In 2015, Pennsylvania lawmakers from both parties unanimously approved her appointment as Pennsylvania physician general.”
