Biden chooses transgender woman Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health in historic first

President-elect Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he had appointed Dr Rachel Levine as assistant secretary of health at the US Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed by the Senate, Levine would be the first openly transgender federal official to a role confirmed by the Senate, according to the Biden-Harris transition team.

Levine, who is Pennsylvania’s health secretary, is currently leading the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Dr. Rachel Levine will bring the continued leadership and essential expertise we need to help people navigate this pandemic – regardless of zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability – and meet our country’s public health needs at this critical time and beyond, ”Biden said in a statement. “She is a historic and highly qualified choice to help lead our administration’s health efforts.”

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris called Levine “an outstanding public servant with the knowledge and experience to help us contain this pandemic and protect and improve the health and well-being of the American people.”

Levine, a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane University School of Medicine, completed her training in pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City. She is also Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine and is President of ASTHO, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

She has been confirmed as Pennsylvania’s health secretary and state physician general by the Republican-controlled State Senate on three occasions.

The doctor is also an “author on the opioid crisis, medical marijuana, adolescent medicine, eating disorders and LGBTQ + medicine,” the statement said.

In a recent interview with Melissa Quinn of CBS News, Levine spoke about Pennsylvania’s efforts to ensure that urban and rural areas have equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Pharmacies will be very important and necessary, but not sufficient,” Levine said. “It’s not the vaccine that’s the problem. It’s the vaccination. We have to get them administered to people. We have to put the vaccines in arms.”

The Pennsylvania Equality Project celebrated his appointment by saying in a statement to CBS Philly: “[W]We could not be more excited for her and for our community to have such incredible and inspiring representation at the highest levels of our government. Well deserved Dr. Levine – well deserved! We are sure you will work as hard to protect Americans as you did in Pennsylvania for many years! “

In his leading role in the state’s coronavirus response, Levine has become the target of anti-transgender harassment and online attacks. She called the officials at a press conference in July.

“To the perpetrators and perpetrators of these acts, if your apology is sincere, then I accept it. But the apology is the beginning, not the end, of the conversation,” Levine said.

“As for me, I have no room in my heart for hate, and frankly I don’t have time for intolerance.”