On Being First
Amanda Simpson can help us all learn about trans issues
by Dana Beyer
Published on January 14, 2010
http://www.metroweekly.com/news/opinion.php?ak=4792"Being the first sucks," Amanda Simpson, one of the first openly trans appointments to a federal government position, told ABC News. "I'd rather not be the first but someone has to be first, or among the first. I think I'm experienced and very well qualified to deal with anything that might show up because I've broken barriers at lots of other places and I always win people over with who I am and what I can do."
I know how she feels. Full disclosure: Amanda Simpson and I are friends, and fellow board members at NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality). She is also my role model, the woman who proved to me, by virtue of her campaign for Arizona state representative in 2004, that I can get elected.
