We've never had an openly-gay Cabinet secretary. If not now, when? More from the WSJ:
For the rainbow cabinet of the nation’s first African American president, Mary Beth Maxwell is the perfect labor secretary you’ve probably never heard of: a gay woman, community organizer and labor leader with an adopted African American son. And this founding executive director of American Rights at Work is about to get the full-court press.Appointing Maxwell is also a smart way for the Obama administration to circumvent rumblings in the gay community to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" in the opening months of Obama's first term, a move some think might prove a bit too aggressive for a new administration that's supposed to be focusing on the economy. A gay Labor Secretary is not the equivalent of solving the gays in the military problem, but it is one hell of a step forward for civil rights and "change," and it's one hell of a comeback to anyone who tries to claim that Obama isn't coming through on his support for the entire civil rights community.
Maxwell already had the strong backing of former Rep. David Bonior, who despite repeated attempts to get his name removed from consideration continues to be on the short list of potential labor secretaries. Bonior, 63 years old, says it is time for his generation to turn over power to a new generation, and Maxwell, whose labor-backed organization pushes for expanded collective bargaining rights, is his pick.
Some labor leaders from both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, a splinter union group led by the Service Employees International Union, back her as a consensus choice, citing her efforts on behalf of legislation to allow unionization at workplaces with the signing of cards, not secret balloting.
