Fringe Right, Letterman React to Obama Trans Appointee
by Kilian Melloy
Wednesday Jan 6, 2010
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=100756Candidate Barack Obama spoke out against anti-gay discrimination and vowed to uphold the equality of GLBT Americans. President Obama followed through on that promise by appointing a transgendered American to the Department of Commerce as a Senior Technical Advisor.
The fringe right--which has launched attacks against other Obama appointees, including openly lesbian Chai Feldblum and GLBT youth advocate Kevin Jennings--have lined up to claim that Amanda Simpson was chosen for the post not because she was the most qualified for the job, but because Obama seeks to "desensitize" America to gays and transgendered people holding prominent positions in government.
One right-wing activist went so far as to call the appointment "political correctness run amock," reported anti-gay publication Catholic News Agency in a Jan. 5 article.
