Press

The White House announced today the appointment of Virginia M. Apuzzo as Assistant to the President for Management and Administration. Currently, Apuzzo is Associate Deputy Secretary of Labor at the United States Department of Labor. She has held this position since September, 1996. In her new position, Apuzzo would be the nation's highest ranking out gay or lesbian government official in history.

Prior to joining the Administration, Apuzzo was President of the New York State Civil Service Commission and Commissioner of the New York State Department of Civil Service. She spent most of her professional career in New York where she worked in both the public and private sector from 1985 to 1994. From 1983 to 1985, Apuzzo was Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the nation's oldest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organization. Before coming to NGLTF, Apuzzo held positions as Executive Director of the Office of Trials and Hearings for the City of New York and as Assistant Commissioner, Office of Operations, City of New York Department of Health.

"This is historic," said Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director in response to the announcement of Apuzzo's appointment. "She has impeccable professional credentials - that she's an activist is icing on the cake. Her tenure with NGLTF brought impressive visibility to the movement. Her solid perspective on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues will be a tremendous asset to the Administration."

In the White House position, Apuzzo will direct all the management and administration functions of the entire White House complex and she will have oversight responsibilities for all of the agencies of the Executive Office of the President. She begins the new job today.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.