Chung Picked for Health Panel

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has appointed Cecilia Chung to be the first out transgender person to serve on the city's Health Commission.

Chung, who's 46 and HIV-positive, works as a consultant and served on the city's Human Rights Commission for seven years. She submitted her resignation from that commission Monday, April 2.

"I'm greatly honored to be offered this appointment," Chung said. She said she'd "deeply" miss working with the human rights body. However, she expects to bring a lot of what she's learned from that commission to the health panel, such as "some of the issues around HIV discrimination and stigma around HIV."

In a Tuesday, April 3 statement, Lee said, "The Health Commission will greatly benefit from Cecilia's experience in community health policy and human rights and her understanding as a person living with HIV."

Chung's appointment restores an out LGBT presence to the seven-member panel, which oversees a health department budget of about $1.6 billion. Lee had recently opted not to re-appoint the commission's two out gay members, Jim Illig and Steven Tierney. Belle Taylor-McGhee was recently sworn into her position on the oversight body.