Trump admin ‘deadnames’ transgender Admiral Rachel Levine on official HHS portrait
WASHINGTON, DC: Someone in the Trump administration apparently reached for the white-out on Adm Rachel Levine’s official portrait, swapping her legal name for the one she used before transitioning.
According to a new report, the photo hanging at the Department of Health and Human Services was recently altered, with “Rachel Levine” removed and replaced by her former name, “Richard Levine.” For the record, her full birth name was Richard Leland Levine.
LGBTQ+ advocates call such a move “deadnaming,” which GLAAD defines as the act of revealing or using a transgender person’s prior name without consent.
Levine made history in 2021 as then-President Joe Biden’s pick for assistant secretary for health. The nation’s highest-ranking openly transgender federal official has her portrait displayed alongside previous leaders of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. But the recent change blindsided staffers, according to NPR.
Backlash erupts after Rachel Levine’s portrait is ‘deadnamed’ at HHS
Adrian Shanker, a former deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the Biden administration and now a spokesperson for Rachel Levine, told NPR the move was an act “of bigotry against her.”
“During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine's photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name," Shanker told the outlet.
Levine herself brushed off the controversy in a statement. She said it was “a great honor to serve in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.”
“My focus has been and continues to be on public health and health equity. I am not going to comment on this type of petty action,” she added in a statement to The Independent.
Meanwhile, one unnamed staffer told NPR the switch was “disrespectful” and signaled “the erasure of transgender individuals by this administration.”
HHS defends portrait switch as Trump rolls back transgender protections
The Trump administration’s HHS fired back with its own defense. Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the agency, insisted that the agency’s priority “is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science.”
He doubled down in his statement to NPR: “We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.”
Since returning to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump has pushed a wave of rollbacks on Biden-era protections for transgender and inters*x Americans. Shortly after taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order banning transgender people from the military.
The Supreme Court allowed the order to be enforced while legal fights continued. Another executive order targeted gender-affirming healthcare.
The administration also blocked Americans from choosing a passport s*x marker that aligns with their gender identity. Just last month, several transgender service members sued the administration, claiming they were illegally stripped of retirement benefits after being pushed out.
Rachel Levine faces renewed scrutiny amid rising anti-trans rhetoric
Rachel Levine has long been a controversial figure in Washington.
She told NPR in January that anti-trans rhetoric has followed her throughout her time in federal service. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, her image even appeared in GOP ads designed to stoke anti-trans sentiment.
“It was very challenging, but I'm a resilient person, and I'm fine,” she told the outlet.
Before rising to national prominence, Levine worked as a pediatrician and public health official in Pennsylvania. She later joined the Biden administration and served until January, stepping down the same day President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term.
