A Gay Look at Obama'a First 100 Days

From the Philadelphia Gay News:

This Wednesday marks the 100th day since President Obama took the oath of office and, for the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, never-before-experienced access to and inclusion in the federal government — although the LGBT community is still awaiting the appointment of an openly gay individual to the president’s cabinet.

Since taking office, Obama has appointed at least 35 openly LGBT individuals to federal posts. Seven of these employees were nominated for positions that required Senate confirmation, making Obama the first president ever to choose LGBT individuals for such positions within the first 100 days of the presidency.

The Obama administration’s inclusion of the LGBT community has also extended beyond employment opportunities.

In the past three months, scores of LGBT community leaders have been invited to the White House for a series of mainstream events.

On Feb. 18, Joe Solmonese, executive director of the advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, and Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, were included in the president’s reception for progressive leaders.

Solmonese also participated in the Feb. 23 Fiscal Responsibility Summit, as well as the March 5 White House Forum on Health Reform, along with Carey, Paul Kawata, president of the National Minority AIDS Council, and Frank Oldham, executive director of the National Association of People Living with AIDS.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the NGLTF, and Leslie Calman, executive director of the Mautner Project, a national lesbian health organization, were all included in the March 11 launch event for the White House Council on Women and Girls.

The administration has also made strides to provide outreach to specific segments of the LGBT community.

In late March, Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, and a collection of LGBT and ally students met with secretary of education Arne Duncan to discuss the challenges faced by LGBT students, marking the first time that such a meeting took place.

Click here to read more about the encouragement the GLBT community should feel from President Obama's first 100 days in office.