Restore Admiral Rachel Levine’s Legal Name on Her Official Portrait

I’m writing to express deep concern about a disturbing step taken by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): the removal of Admiral Rachel Levine’s legal name from her official portrait, replaced instead with her former name. This deadnaming is a disrespectful and demeaning insult. Admiral Levine’s service as a high-ranking public health official was a significant milestone for inclusion, representation, and equity. To erase her legal name from an official government portrait undermines that milestone, diminishes trust in public institutions, and sends a harmful message to transgender and gender-diverse people about their dignity and legitimacy. I urge you to call on HHS to: • Reinstate Admiral Levine’s correct legal name under her official portrait. • Publicly affirm that federal agencies will respect the legal names and identities of transgender and gender-diverse Americans. • Support mechanisms or policies to ensure such erasure cannot happen again across federal agencies. I believe strongly in fairness, dignity, and equal rights under government. Do all you can to restore Admiral Levine’s legal name under her portrait now.