Rachel Levine, nominated to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.
Caroline Brehman/Pool / AP Photo
Caroline Brehman/Pool / AP Photo
Rachel Levine, nominated to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.
Pennsylvania’s former Secretary of Health is now one of USA Today’s Women of the Year.
Dr. Rachel Levine is one of 12 women to receive the honor.
Dr. Levine is a Harvard grad and pediatrician who helped guide Pennsylvania’s COVID response through the first year of the pandemic. She now serves as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health. She’s the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the country.
Corinne Goodwin, executive director of the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project which works to empower transgender residents in the area, called the honor a win for trans people everywhere.
“It’s just more validation that trans people have just as much to offer as anybody else in our society and that diverse opportunities really need to happen for people of trans experience, so that when we are given an opportunity to shine we can,” Goodwin said.
Based on Levine’s accomplishments, Goodwin said, there’s no surprise the 4-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps made the list, which also includes Vice President Kamala Harris and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, host Asia Tabb starts the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home.
