Senate Confirms Historic LGBTQ+ Nominees to Defense Department
The U.S. Senate Thursday confirmed two groundbreaking LGBTQ+ appointees to the Department of Defense by unanimous consent.
Gina Ortiz Jones was confirmed as undersecretary of the Air Force, becoming the first out lesbian to be an undersecretary of any branch of the military. Shawn Skelly was confirmed as assistant secretary of defense for readiness, making her the highest-ranking out transgender person in Defense Department history and only the second trans person ever confirmed by the Senate (Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, was the first).