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Biden administration had record level of LGBTQ+ representation

From left: Pete Buttigieg, Shawn Skelly, Karine Jean-Pierre, and Roger Nyhus
Sheila Fitzgerald/shutterstock; Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for OUT Magazine; Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images; RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images
From left: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaking at a press conference; Shawn Skelly attends Out Magazine's #Out100 Event in 2017; White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during the daily briefing on January 15;.

U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Roger Nyhus on Barbados last April.

The administration truly looked like America.

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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris left office having headed an administration with the most out LGBTQ+ appointees in history.

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About 15 percent of the administration’s appointees were LGBTQ+, according to tracking from the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute and the White House, more than any previous administration. This included more federal judges and ambassador-level positions than ever before — 12 and 13, respectively — 43 Senate-confirmed positions, and multiple high-level spokespeople.

“Biden made sure to have an administration that looked like America,” Annise Parker, president and CEO of Victory Institute and its sister organization, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, tells The Advocate.

Victory Institute offers training to current and aspiring public officials who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, while Victory Fund supports out candidates for elected office. Victory Institute is also the home of the David Mixner Political Appointments Program, which has worked to increase LGBTQ+ political representation in presidential appointments since Bill Clinton’s administration. This program, a coalition of more than 30 organizations, works to identify out and well-qualified people to serve within presidential administrations.

“If we had a great person, we made sure that person got a look, and that’s all we asked for,” Parker says.

In the Biden-Harris administration, Victory Institute had a willing partner in the White House personnel office, Parker says, but that likely won’t be the case in the second Donald Trump administration.

“We’re happy to continue to place people,” she says, and Victory Institute will maintain its bank of résumés of qualified out individuals. But few have expressed interest in working for the incoming administration, which was the case in Trump’s first term as well, and his team hasn’t been responsive, she notes.

“I don’t think we should expect to see anywhere near the level of representation we did during the Biden administration,” adds Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs for Victory Fund.

There were several firsts in Biden’s appointments. The one who is likely best known is Pete Buttigieg, the gay man who served as secretary of Transportation. He was the first Senate-confirmed out LGBTQ+ Cabinet appointee. There was also Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services, the first transgender Senate-confirmed appointee; Chantale Wong, an Asian-American lesbian who was the U.S. director of the Asian Development Bank, an ambassador-level position, making her the first out LGBTQ+ woman and person of color at the ambassador level; lesbian Karine Jean-Pierre, the first Black person and first out LGBTQ+ person to be White House press secretary; Roger Nyhus, a gay man who served as ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the first Native American from the LGBTQ+ community to be an ambassador; and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness Shawn Skelly, the highest-ranking out trans defense official in U.S. history.

They and other out Biden administration officials will likely find plenty of offers from the private sector and various levels of government. (Federal judges, by the way, have lifetime appointments.) Some Michigan Democrats would like Buttigieg, now a resident of the state, to run for governor in 2026, when Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will have reached her term limit. Buttigieg recently told The Detroit News he isn’t ruling in or out on a gubernatorial run.

In any case, Victory Institute is assuring that outgoing federal officials are well positioned for a new job search, Parker says. “We’ve worked on helping people who were leaving the Biden administration polish their résumés, look for opportunities,” she says. “We want to make sure LGBT folks are represented at all levels of government and in business.”

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.