Stuart Delery to Become First Openly Gay Man as White House Counsel

The Biden Administration has had its share of firsts for positions filled by out LGBTQ individuals:  from Pete Buttigieg becoming the first openly gay man to serve in the President’s Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation to Rachel Levine becoming the first openly transgendered person as the U.S. assistant health secretary to Karine Jean-Pierre becoming the first lesbian to serve as chief of staff to the Vice-President and then making history again recently when she became the first openly LGBTQ person to serve as White House Press Secretary.  Firsts for the LGBTQ community even extend to the U.S. State Department as well with Rufus Gifford as the first gay man as the Chief of Protocol.

With a recent statement from the White House Briefing Room comes another first for the LGBTQ community.  Dana Remus, who serves as Assistant to the President and White House Counsel, is leaving the position, and taking her place is Stuart Delery. The statement details Delery’s history and experience coming in as White House Counsel:

Stuart Delery currently serves as Deputy Counsel to the President, where he has advised on key Administration priorities including the COVID-19 response, the American Rescue Plan, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework. Stuart is the former Acting Associate Attorney General of the United States, the third-ranking position at the U.S. Department of Justice, and is the most senior openly-LGBTQ+ official in DOJ history. Before that, Stuart served as Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, and supervised legal defense of Congressional statutes including the Affordable Care Act and agency actions, as well as the government-wide implementation of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on LGBTQ+ rights United States v. Windsor. Stuart has also worked as a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and WilmerHale. Stuart clerked for Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Byron White and Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the Eleventh Circuit. 

Delery will step into the role of White House Counsel in July when Remus steps down from the position in July. 

Sources: whitehouse.gov, The Justice Department Official YouTube Channel, The New York Times, United States Conference of Mayors YouTube Channel,