Obama Appoints Record Number of Gays

President Barack Obama has appointed more gay people in less than two years than any other president, the Associated Press reports.

While the cabinet does not include any openly gay or lesbian appointees, more than 150 policy officials, advisers, commission members, and other high-level staff members are out, according to Denis Dison of the Victory Fund. The closest contender is President Bill Clinton, who appointed about 140 gays and lesbians to such positions throughout his eight years in office.

Dison said the appointments were part of an effort from the administration to increase its diversity. White House spokesman Shin Inouye also confirmed the amount and added that Obama has hired more gay and lesbian officials than presidents Clinton and George W. Bush combined.

Clinton made waves in 1993, when he appointed then-San Francisco supervisor Roberta Achtenberg as assistant secretary for Housing and Urban Development. She was the first lesbian to hold such a high post, even after a tumultuous confirmation hearing when notoriously conservative senator Jesse Helms called her a "militant extremist."