White House announces three major gay appointments

By Jon Fairbanks, 365gay contributor
01.28.2011 1:56pm EST

This week, the Obama administration filled two high-ranking positions with openly gay appointees and nominated a third for a federal judgeship in New York.

If approved by the Senate, J. Paul Oetken will become the third openly gay federal judge in the country.  Oetken is a senior vice president and associate general counsel at Cablevision Systems.

Two LGBT officials will take on key roles in the Obama White House.

Roberta Achtenberg, who co-founded the National Center for Lesbian Rights, was chosen to sit on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

Roberta Achtenberg

In 1990, Achtenberg was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Jeffrey Levi, AIDS researcher and executive director of Trust for America’s Health, will become a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health.

During the Clinton administration, Levi served as deputy director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy.