Biden nominates first openly-gay woman to serve as US ambassador

President Biden has nominated the first openly gay woman to serve the United States as an ambassador.

The White House announced last Friday that Biden intends to nominate Chantale Yokmin Wong serve to serve as U.S. Director of the Asian Development Bank, with the rank of Ambassador.

Wong is also the first LGBTQ person of color to be nominated for an ambassador-level position, according to the LGBTQ Victory Institute.

Wong was appointed by former President Clinton to serve on the Board of Directors at the Asian Development Bank, where she represented the U.S. as the alternate executive director. Former President Obama later appointed her to serve as vice president for the administration and finance and chief financial officer at the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Wong has also held senior career appoints in the Office of Management and Budget, Treasury, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The White House also noted her personal passions of photography and videography, pointing out that she has chronicled the annual congressional civil rights pilgrimages in Alabama that were led by the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)

The White House hailed Wong as a “leading authority in international development policy with over 30 years of experience in the multi-disciplinary field that includes finance, technology, and the environment.”

Wong is not the only LGBTQ nominee Biden has appointed to his administration.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund says that Biden has appointed over 200 known LGBTQ people to his administration within the first 100 days of his presidency.    

Among the appointees are Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet member in U.S. history.  Also among the appointees is Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health, who is the first openly transgender Senate-confirmed federal official.