John Berry, the openly gay Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, has recorded a very personal video for the It Gets Better Project.  Berry, the highest-ranking openly gay presidential appointee in U.S. history, serves as the federal government’s top human resources official, managing a federal civilian workforce of nearly 2 million.

In his video message to LGBT youth, Berry says that while he was never bullied, he did experience the pain of rejection when he came out to his family.  But eventually that changed, Berry said, recounting a poignant moment when his father held Berry’s partner as he was dying from AIDS.

View Berry’s video here.

John Berry, the federal government’s highest-ranking openly gay presidential appointee, says ending discrimination in the workplace should be the top priority of LGBT voters.  Although Berry does not advocate for any less vigilance on other LGBT rights issues – such as repealing DADT and DOMA – he recently expressed a need to focus now on ENDA, which he says is  within “spitting-distance” of the necessary votes to pass in Congress. The Washington Blade reported Berry’s comments:

“The most important thing we can do right now is we got to … secure the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — and it’s got to include full transgender protections,” Berry said. “I believe that if we all concentrate our efforts where it needs to be concentrated, which is on the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we can get the job done.”

Other pro-LGBT legislation can be more easily achieved, Berry said, if Congress were to pass ENDA.

Berry is director of the US Office of Personnel Management, the most influential position held by an LGBT politico in the Obama Administration. Berry was recomended by the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute’s Presidential Appointments Project, which seeks to increase LGBT representation in the Executive Branch.

The Washington Post is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama intends to nominate John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management.    Berry served in the Clinton administration as Assistant Interior Secretary and is currently the director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.  He would be the first openly gay director of OPM and one of the highest-ranking openly gay presidential appointees in history.

Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, praised the selection.  “It says a lot about Barack Obama’s commitment to equality in the workplace that he has apparently chosen an openly gay person for this extremely important job.  John has dedicated his career to public service, so it makes sense that he will be able help thousands of others who are willing to do the same.”

The director of OPM is the President’s principal advisor in matters of personnel administration.  The agency  is responsible for planning for the needs of the Federal workforce and for helping federal agencies improve human resources management.  Among other functions, OPM is responsible for recruiting and connecting job applicants with federal agencies who need staff, developing compensation and performance management programs, and administering benefits and personnel security programs.