The Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., removed the legal name “Rachel” from Admiral Rachel Levine’s official portrait, replaced it with her deceased name, and installed it under mounted glass normally used for permanent exhibits at the facility. Levine became the first transgender person confirmed by the U.S. Senate under President Joe Biden.
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NPR, initially reported In development, we explained the setting in harsh terms. On the seventh floor of the Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., there are portraits of those who have led HHS’s public health force. Levine’s portrait was also there until the plaque was changed.
Related: Dr. Rachel Levine Confirms Appointment to HHS Post, Making Transgender History (www.advocate.com)
The amendment appears to have been made during the recent federal shutdown, shortly after Assistant Secretary of Health Brian Christine was confirmed by the Senate. Such actions during a shutdown create immediate procedural problems.
Closure rules limit employees to duties related to public safety or health emergencies. Alteration of a portrait, especially removing the glass in the frame and replacing it with a different nameplate, does not seem to fall into that category.
Adrian Shanker, who represented Mr. Levine and led the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health Policy, said the move reflected an alarming abuse of institutional power.
Related: Rachel Levine opens up about her work in government and the ‘fake’ outrage over Trans Visibility Day (Exclusive)
“Admiral Levine was a dedicated public health servant during his time as assistant secretary of health and admiral of the U.S. Surgeon General,” said Shankel. defender. “She ended the HIV epidemic, responded to the syphilis surge, improved mental health and nutrition, and really worked for the health and well-being of the American people as a whole. And what the people who are there now seem to be doing is an act of petty narrow-mindedness and bigotry. That this is the level of seriousness of the current political appointees at HHS is not only unfair to Admiral Levine, it’s unfair to the American people.”
HHS defended the changes in its statement to NPR, asserting that its “first priority is to ensure that the information HHS presents internally and externally reflects the gold standards of science,” and that the department remains focused on “reversing the harmful policies enacted by Levine” and advancing “biological realities.” This language reflected an ongoing effort across the government to remove references to transgender people from federal documents.
Shankel said the administration’s hyperbolic statements obscure what actually happened. “They have a lot of rhetoric and campaign slogans that they still use in formulating the policies they implement,” he says. “But this is not about policy. This is a small act of narrow-mindedness and bigotry, and we should call it what it is.”
He added that the portrait tampering fits into a broader pattern of the administration seeking to erase transgender people from public life. “They seem to be obsessed with transgender people, and obsessed with stripping them of not just their legal rights and access to health care, but even the basics of human existence,” he says.
Related: Rachel Levine led the fight against HIV and sexually transmitted diseases at HHS. Now Trump is trying to undo that progress, and she’s speaking out
Levine was traveling and did not give interviews, but issued a brief statement: defender Via Shankel.
“It has been a great honor to serve on the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Forces,” she said. “My focus has been, and will continue to be, on how we can advance health equity and public health for all. I am not going to comment on these types of petty actions.”
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
