The president’s new Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce says: “as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.”

Jake Tapper explains:

A 2004 YWCA “Woman on the Move,” Simpson recently served as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona.
At Raytheon, Simpson — a former test pilot who had worked for the company for more than a generation — transitioned from male to female and was instrumental in convincing the military contractor to add gender identity and expression to its equal employment opportunity policy.

I have no doubt that Amanda Simpson has been through a lot in life. But am I wrong in thinking this is very far away from the next civil-rights movement?