LGBTQ news and entertainment
YouTube personality Raymond Braun chats with Sergeant Shane Ortega, the first openly trans man in the U.S. Military on his life, trans rights and his time in the military on a Hawaiian beach.
Sgt. Ortega served three combat tours, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and engaged in 400 combat operations.
President Obama has appointed Raffi Freedman-Gurspan to serve as an Outreach and Recruitment Director in the Presidential Personnel Office.
Formerly the Racial and Economic Justice Initiative Policy Advisor at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Freedman-Gurspan starts her new job at the White House today.
While transgender persons have worked in civil service positions and in various federal agencies or been appointed to presidential commissions and boards previously, Freedman-Gurspan is the first openly transgender appointee to work inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Aydian Ethan Dowling is the current front-runner in Men’s Health Ultimate Guy Search competition. A big deal, right?
Wait – it gets bigger. Should he win, Dowling will become Men’s Health’s first transgender cover model.
Men’s Health says it is looking for a “a guy who is fit and fearless, a doer who gives back and leads by example” to cover its November 2015 issue.
“As a transgender male, having a healthy body and mind is my ultimate goal to find peace within my soul,” Dowling told Men’s Health. “Although I may always have some kind of battle with my body, I continue to work everyday for a happy peace within.”
Dowling became an internet sensation in February, when he posted a revealing re-creation of Adam Levine’s infamous Cosmo magazine cover.
You can vote for Aydian in Men’s Health‘s Ultimate Guy Search here — voting ends June 21.
Once voting closes, judging will be conducted by a panel including fashion designer Kenneth Cole and Sofia Vergara.
Newly confirmed Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Sunday suggested transgender people should be allowed to openly serve in the military.
“I don’t think anything but their suitability for service should preclude them,” Carter said on Sunday in Afghanistan.
The White House shared the same perspective during a press briefing on Monday. Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, “The president agrees with the sentiment that all Americans who are qualified to serve should be able to serve. And for that reason, we here at the White House welcome the comments from the secretary of defense.”
Currently, the U.S. Military does not allow transgender soldiers to serve openly.