Gay Man Becomes Acting Secretary of Air Force
Eric Fanning, undersecretary of the Air Force, became acting secretary of the branch with the retirement of Michael Donley, making Fanning the highest-ranking LGBT person in the Department of Defense.
“President Obama is yet to nominate Donley’s replacement, so Fanning should be serving in the dual roles for a while,” notes BuzzFeed.
The interim assignment makes Fanning the civilian head of the Air Force. The Senate confirmed him as undersecretary in April. Before that, he had been deputy undersecretary and deputy chief management officer for the Navy since 2009. His résumé also includes stints with communications firms, think tanks, and broadcast media, along with several political posts. He is a former Victory Fund board member and a donor to various LGBT causes.
After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1990, Fanning worked for the House Armed Services Committee, then for the Defense Department and the Clinton White House. Working in a military setting in the 1990s, even as a civilian employee not subject to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, was challenging, he told the Washington Blade last month.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/military/2013/06/22/gay-man-becomes-acting-secretary-air-force