A new report has revealed that the administration of President Donald Trump altered the official portrait of a pioneering transgender health leader, removing her name and replacing it with the one she used before her transition.
An Act of 'Bigotry' in the Health Department
According to a report from NPR, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently changed the portrait of Admiral Rachel Levine. The image, which hangs in the HHS office alongside other leaders of the U.S. Public Health Corps, had her current legal name removed and substituted with her previous name. This practice, known as deadnaming, is widely condemned by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups like GLAAD as disrespectful and harmful.
Adrian Shanker, a former deputy assistant secretary in the Biden administration and Levine's current spokesperson, condemned the move. He told NPR the change was an intentional act "of bigotry against her." Shanker stated, "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."
Levine's Historic Role and the Administration's Response
Admiral Rachel Levine made history in 2021 when she was sworn in as the assistant secretary for health under President Joe Biden, becoming the nation's highest-ranking openly transgender federal official. She resigned from her role at HHS in January 2025, on the day President Trump was sworn in for his second term.
When contacted by NPR, Levine herself said she would "not going to comment on this type of petty action." However, an unnamed HHS staffer told the broadcaster the alteration was "disrespectful" and demonstrated "the erasure of transgender individuals by this administration."
In contrast, Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for HHS, defended the action. He said the agency's priority is "ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science." Nixon added, "We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health."
Broader Context of Rolling Back Transgender Rights
This incident is not isolated. Over the past year, the Trump administration has pursued a broad policy agenda aimed at rolling back rights for transgender and intersex people across the federal government. Key actions include:
- Signing an executive order in January 2025 banning transgender people from military service.
- Issuing another executive order targeting gender-affirming healthcare.
- Blocking individuals from selecting a sex marker on their passports that aligns with their gender identity.
Some transgender service members forced out of the military have filed a lawsuit, arguing they were illegally stripped of their retirement benefits. Levine has also been a frequent target of anti-transgender rhetoric, with her image used in GOP attack advertisements ahead of the 2024 election. She told NPR in January that the experience was "very challenging," but that she is a "resilient person."
Before her federal service, Levine worked as a paediatrician and public health official in Pennsylvania. Her portrait's alteration stands as a symbolic flashpoint in the ongoing cultural and political battles over transgender rights in the United States.
