Raffi Freedman-Gurspan will be the first transgender to occupy the position of communication between the White House and the LGBT community, according to the news and entertainment website BuzzFeed.
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"Raffi is a great choice," said Mara Keisling, executive director of National Center for Transgender Equality.
"O President Obama says he wants his administration to resemble America, and they have moved to include transgender Americans. Raffi's qualities and personality make her the ideal choice for this important role," she added.
Freedman-Gurspan was the first transgender woman to hold a position in the White House.
She was hired in 2015 as the director of recruitment for the president's personal office. With her new job - which in addition to her previous position also holds the role of associate director of public engagement - she becomes a key point of contact between LGBT groups and Washington.
Marsha Scott, heterosexual and the first to hold the position, she was appointed in 1996 during the Clinton administration. Later, homosexuals (gays and lesbians) worked in the role in the Clinton and Obama administrations.
The last in the role was Aditi Hardikar, who left the post in January to join the secretary of state Hillary Clinton in his presidential campaign. Before working at the White House, Raffi was a policy consultant at the National Center for Transgender Equality and legislative director at Massachusetts House of Representativess.
The Obama administration has been a landmark in defending transgender rights, including interpreting existing civil laws to protect the rights of transgender workers and students.
"We believe the White House's decision to recognize Raffi's leadership, as well as the importance of having transgender leadership play an important role in the community, is groundbreaking," said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president of policy and political affairs at LGBT NGO Human Rights Campaign (Human Rights Campaign, in Portuguese).
