Non-binary drag queen makes history as Biden hands them nuclear job
JOE Biden has appointed a drag queen and ‘kink’ enthusiast to a top government job.
Sam Brinton, who uses the pronouns they/them, announced they are the new deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition in the Nuclear Office at the US Department of Energy.
Brinton said they would bring ‘innovative thought’ to their role and claimed they were the first ‘gender fluid person in federal government leadership’.
The engineer, who defines themselves as non-binary, has been a vocal campaigner for LGBTQ rights. They have a colourful private life, posing in eye-catching outfits in online photos. They also once gave a talk on ‘kink exploration’ at a US college in 2017 about experiences of domination, how to safely choke a partner and ‘pup play’ – in which participants role-play as a dog.
Brinton has a degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University and in 2013 received a master’s in nuclear engineering from the elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The engineer said on careers site LinkedIn last month they would do ‘what I always dreamed of doing, leading the effort to solve the nation’s nuclear waste challenges’. Brinton said they would ‘be (to my knowledge) the first gender fluid person in federal government leadership’, adding: ‘I am going to be responsible for finding solutions to a problem I have dedicated my life to that has been stymied for decades.’
They said they are ‘solving the world’s nuclear waste challenges and protecting LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy’.
Brinton also worked for the Trevor Project, a charity that works to prevent suicide in LGBTQ youngsters.