Gay Man to Direct the Office of Personnel Management

John Berry will be named director of the Office of Personnel Management by President-elect Barack Obama, according to The Washington Post. Berry served as assistant secretary of the Interior during the Clinton administration and has been director of the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park since 2005.

LGBT leaders had hoped Berry would be tapped as secretary of the Interior, but D.C. insiders say his duties at the Office of Personnel Management will directly affect LGBT people because it has jurisdiction over the treatment of millions of federal employees.

“OPM is the federal government’s human resources department," said Denis Dison, spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which has been presenting qualified LGBT candidates to the Obama transition team. "Its director is the president’s top adviser on personnel matters. Having an out gay man in that position is more than symbolic, it’s a statement about how important workplace equality is to this president.”

The office is generally responsible for recruiting job applicants, filling vacancies at federal agencies, developing performance review processes, administering benefits, and overseeing nondiscrimination policies.

Though Beltway LGBT leaders had been pushing for an openly gay cabinet appointee, they were enthusiastic about Berry's appointment and said it was the most prominent position to be held by an openly gay person in the federal government. “The selection of John Berry to head the Office of Personnel Management, making him the highest-ranking openly gay official ever, is a meaningful step forward for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese.

Before becoming director of the National Zoological Park, Berry was executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Association from 2000 to 2005. He is also no stranger to Capitol Hill, having served as legislative director for Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, from 1985 until 1994. (Kerry Eleveld, Advocate.com)

Reader Comments

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Name: Scott Weeden
Date posted: 2009-06-30 6:54 PM
Hometown: DC

Comment:

Tony, I'm happy that Mr. Berry will be the new director. It directly affects a lot of LGBT people working for the government and contractors such as myself who didn't feel safe under the previous administration. I think the president is being realistic and we have to be realistic in our expectations of what he can change. Even if legal protection against discrimination comes I doubt many people would seek recourse in such an event. The consequences of a drawn out legal battle would be far more damaging than any job loss from discrimination. Yes I would like to see legal protection and maybe feel a little safer at work but in the end a law can't change someone’s mind. No law will ever fix that nut job that posted the first comment on this blog. It's unfortunate to see but their insane and desperate will eventually die out. This is one insurgency that will never give up ;) Reason and humanity will prevail. Thanks Mr. President.

Name: Tony Branch
Date posted: 2009-01-14 7:58 AM
Hometown: St. Petersburg, Fl

Comment:

This is good news, and Berry sounds very well qualified. This is especially important for GLBT employees of the federal government However, those of us in the private sector who are not federal employees as well as state and local government employees in most "red" states also need protection against employment discrimination. In more than half of the states in this country--including highly populous Florida and Texas--one can still be fired simply for being gay. The only way I see to remedy this is passage of a federal ENDA law. That's the only way racial discrimination in employment was outlawed back in the late 60's,

Name: Ravi
Date posted: 2009-01-13 4:49 PM
Hometown: Missouri

Comment:

This is excellent news. Everyone should keep in mind that the war is won by one battle at a time. This is a very big step, because Mr. Berry is going to be in a position to actually make a difference in the lives of so many LGBT federal employees. Once that starts to happen, its only a matter of time before anti-LGBT discrimination is confronted and defeated in the private sphere. In fact, Berry will have more of an impact here than he would have had in one of those cabinet positions. Just watch, within one month of taking office, Obama is going surprise a lot of folks; that absurd DADT military rule will be abolished, and the employment non-discrimination act will be passed. I also predict that the CA supreme court will strike down Prop 8.

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