Amanda Simpson, a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Transgender Equality, has been appointed Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce by President Obama, according to NCTE.

“I’m truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others,” Simpson said in a statement released by NCTE today.

Obama is the first U.S. president to appoint openly transgender individuals to executive branch positions.  Simpson is among more than 100 openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons appointed by Obama so far, many of whom participated in the LGBT community’s Presidential Appointments Project, which is coordinated by the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute.

According to NCTE:

Simpson brings considerable professional credentials to her new job. For thirty years, she has worked in the aerospace and defense industry, most recently serving as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona. She holds degrees in physics, engineering and business administration along with an extensive flight background. She is a certified flight instructor and test pilot with 20 years of experience.

She has also been very active in political and community groups. She has served on the Board of Directors of two national organizations: Out & Equal and NCTE. In Arizona, she has been on the board of Wingspan, the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, the Southern Arizona ACLU and the Arizona Human Rights Fund (now Equality Arizona).

The United States Senate has confirmed Minnesota assistant police chief Sharon Lubinski as the first openly gay U.S. marshal and the first female marshal in the state, according to the Associated Press.

President Barack Obama officially nominated Lubinski in October, though the Senate’s approval confirms the nomination.  She was recommended by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Lubinski is one of hundreds of openly LGBT officials appointed by the Obama Administration in 2009.  For a full listing, check out GLLI’s Presidential Appointments Project page.

Why are increasing numbers of openly LGBT candidates winning nationwide even as marriage ballot measures go down to defeat?  ”Some political scientists say the rise in openly gay candidates’ winning public office is a better barometer of societal attitudes than are the high-profile fights over same-sex marriage,” writes James McKinley of the New York Times.  McKinley is the Times bureau chief in Houston, where Annise Parker (pictured) was elected mayor earlier this month, making the city the largest in the U.S. with an openly LGBT mayor.

The Times spoke to several Victory Fund-endorsed candidates who were elected to high-profile public offices in the last year:

In Detroit, Pugh’s sexuality never became an issue in his race for City Council. “I thought I would be attacked during the campaign for being gay,” he said in an interview. “I wasn’t. It was a pleasant surprise.”

Pugh might have been insulated from attacks based on his sexual orientation because of his popularity as a television reporter and anchor, political strategists said.

One key to victory for gay politicians has been building a reputation in their communities as a candidate well-qualified for the job. Voters who may be uncomfortable with homosexuality in the abstract are often willing to vote for a gay individual they feel they know, political strategists said.

During her first race in 2004, Lupe Valdez, a former federal agent, won a bitter campaign in Dallas County in which her Republican opponent, Danny Chandler, made sure voters knew she was gay and accused her of promoting a gay agenda. It was a year in which Republicans, led by President George W. Bush at the top of the ticket, romped to victory in Texas and same-sex marriage was a hot topic that favored Republicans.

Yet Valdez still won a narrow victory. When Chandler tried to draw attention to her sexuality late in the race, she followed the advice of strategists from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund in Washington. She pointed out she had always been honest about her sexual orientation and asked what it had to do with law enforcement.

Last year, after four years in the public eye, Valdez — a 62-year-old former agent for the Customs Service, where she did undercover, drug and fraud investigations — easily defeated her Republican challenger, Lowell Cannaday, for a second term. The main issue was her handling of the jails, not her sexuality.

“It’s like anything else,” Valdez said in an interview. “When it becomes close and personal, it’s not hateful anymore.”

Read the full story here.

The election of openly gay candidates to the Hillsborough County Commission and the St. Petersburg City Council are among the Tampa area’s Top 10 news stories of the decade, according to Creative Loafing columnist Mitch Perry:

7. Tampa Bay chooses LGBT leaders (2008, 2009)
Kevin Beckner (pictured) was elected to Hillsborough County Commission in 2008, Steve Kornell elected to St. Pete City Council in 2009 and Jane Castor was named Tampa Police Chief in 2009. The significance of these three individuals is that they’re all openly gay or lesbian, and there was little if no controversy in either their campaigns or appointments.   At the end of the decade, it could be argued that the moves weren’t that historical, but coming after the 2005 vote in Hillsborough, it was definitely significant that Kevin Beckner won, and won decisively over Brian Blair.

In 2005, the Hillsborough County Commission voted to ban gay pride events at official government entities such as county libraries.  That story, which garnered national headlines, was No. 6 on Perry’s list.

Ninety-six members of Congress have submitted a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates requesting “don’t ask, don’t tell” discharge data, according to the Palm Center, a University of California, Santa Barbara think tank.  The request comes as those in favor of the repeal prepare for Congressional debates tentatively scheduled for 2010.

The letter, authored by Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) has also been signed by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), sponsor of the House DADT repeal bill.

Here’s the letter:

Congressional Letter Requesting 2009 DADT Discharge Data