Daily News Staff Writer
Monday, January 4th 2010, 7:23 PM
Undated photo of Amanda Simpson from the Transgender Workplace Diversity Network website. President Obama has appointed Simpson, a transgender woman, to be the Senior Technical Adviser to the Commerce Department.
Amanda Simpson, who used to be test pilot Mitchell Simpson, will make a bit of history Tuesday as she starts work as a senior technical advisor at the Commerce Department.
"As one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds," Simpson said in a statement.
Simpson, 49, underwent a sex change about a decade ago while working in Tuscon for Raytheon Missile Systems, where she rose to the job of deputy director. President Obama named Simpson to the Commerce post.
It is not certain whether she is the first transgendered presidential appointee, but she appears to be the most prominent.
In 2004, Simpson became the first openly transgendered candidate to win a primary election in the U.S. in a bid for the Arizona state legislature.
A Democrat, she lost in the general election.
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/01/04/2010-01-04_cmklzcxmxcz.html#ixzz0cQtXrGQ2
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