From The Advocate:The White House reportedly intends to nominate out lesbian Chai R. Feldblum (pictured) to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Advocate.com has learned.
According to an administration official, Feldblum is believed to be the first openly gay person nominated to the EEOC. The announcement comes about a month after the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced to the U.S. Senate, which will have to confirm Feldblum's appointment. According to The Nation, she was one of the lead drafters of the bill.
The agency is responsible for investigating employment discrimination claims. The commission is a five-member panel, and three of the spots are currently filled.
Feldblum is a professor of law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as well as the director of the Law Center's Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, and codirector of Workplace Flexibility 2010. According to her university bio, she was once a clerk for Supreme Court justice Harry A. Blackmun. Her areas of expertise include disability rights, health and welfare rights, LGBT rights, and workplace issues.
Here's her bio from the Georgetown Law School:
Chai R. Feldblum is a Professor of Law at Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C., the Director of the Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, and Co-Director of Workplace Flexibility 2010. A former law clerk for First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Frank M. Coffin, and Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, Professor Feldblum has been a leading advocate and scholar in the areas of disability rights, health and welfare rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, and workplace issues. She played a leading role in the drafting and negotiating of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. She has also helped draft and negotiate the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and various medical privacy bills and regulations. Professor Feldblum is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on sexuality, morality and the law, disability law, and legislative lawyering.
