(Washington) John Berry is expected to be named the next director of the Office of Personnel Management, an appointment that would make him the highest-ranking openly gay official ever.

The Office of Personnel Management essentially functions as the human resources portal for federal agencies. It also provides the American public with up-to-date employment information.

OPM provides U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.

OPM also has an an investigative branch that last year probed Bush administration Special Counsel Scott Bloch for refusing to protect LGBT workers and allegedly retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office.

Bloch’s stonewalling complaints of discrimination by LGBT federal workers dated to February 2004, when he ordered references to sexual orientation removed from the Office of the Special Counsel website. Since 1998, when President Bill Clinton issued an executive order prohibiting bias in the civil service, the OSC had taken that to include sexual orientation.

A month after the references disappeared from the OSC website, Bloch said gay workers were no longer protected. 

The Obama transition team has not yet named a replacement for Bloch.

Currently, Berry is director of the National Zoo. He is a former executive director of the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and served as assistant secretary of the Interior Department for management.  Berry also served as legislative director for House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) from 1985-1994.

“[This] is a meaningful step forward for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “In his new role, John will make critical decisions regarding the implementation of fair workplace policies for millions of federal workers.”

Other openly gay appointments by the Obama transition team include Nancy Sutley to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Fred P. Hochberg to head the Export-Import Bank.

Sutley is a deputy mayor of Los Angeles. She supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic primary and was a member of her Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender steering committee.

The deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles and the mayor’s representative on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Sutley has a long record of working on environmental and natural resources policy.

She previously served on the California State Water Resources Control Board, which is responsible for protecting water quality and resources throughout the state, and was the energy adviser to former Gov. Gray Davis. During President Bill Clinton’s administration, Sutley was an EPA official, including being a special assistant to the EPA administrator in Washington.

Hochberg is dean of the New School for Management in New York.

From 1998 through 2000, Hochberg served as deputy, then acting administrator, of the Small Business Administration, an agency elevated to cabinet rank by President Bill Clinton, with more than 4,000 employees and 100 offices across the country. 

At the SBA, he directed the delivery of a comprehensive set of financial and business development programs for entrepreneurs, with particular outreach to women and minorities. He also served on President Clinton’s Management Council.

From 1994 to 1998, Hochberg worked as founder and president of Heyday Company, a private investment firm managing real estate, stock market investments, and venture capital projects. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of the Lillian Vernon Corporation, where he led the transformation of a small family mail order company into a publicly traded direct marketing corporation, one of the great success stories of American entrepreneurship.

But where would an openly gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgender appointee or elected official make the most difference during the next administration?

We asked policy analysts and political advisors, politicians and celebrities, business leaders and theologians, bloggers and law professors, writers and LGBT organization leaders this question:

Aside from the presidency, to what government leadership position would you most like to see an openly LGBT person elected or appointed and why?

We received 28 responses from people gay and straight. Elizabeth Birch responded. And so did Rue McClanahan, Danny Roberts (from Real World New Orleans), Joe Solmonese, Kevin Jennings, and so many more.

Of those, five said we need an openly queer person on the US Supreme Court; three suggested Secretary of State. But then there was Richard Kim, who crowed, “Rachel Maddow for White House Press Secretary” and Joan Garry, who, with a wink, threw in Tim Gunn for Chief of Staff.

You can find answers to our question by clicking on individual names, which are in alphabetical order below. The answers are thoughtful, silly, poignant, surprising. Rev. Irene Monroe reminds us of our forgotten history in the military. Robert Rabin explains why a lesbian Supreme Court Justice will change more than you think. And GoodAsYou’s Jeremy Hooper says what we need most of all is a new cabinet position: Secretary of Cutting Through the B.S.

Take a look at what people said by clicking on their names. Some of the responses are very short- some are very long- but all are satisfying. Add your own suggestions either here or after individual answers.

Andrew Belonsky: Restoring our moral authority

Wayne Besen: A voice at the table of justice

Elizabeth Birch: Making LGBT issues human

Bevan Dufty: Righting the wrongs

Robert Gant: Demonstrating the ability to govern

Joan Garry: Barack needs a Gunn

Neal Giuliano: Expanding common ground

Mitchell Gold: Decorating the Oval Office

Michael Guest: A symbol of America’s re-commitment to equality

Jeremy Hooper: The Secretary of Cutting Through the B.S.

Jody Huckaby: Making a bigger difference

Lane Hudson: We need to be in the Senate

Kevin Jennings: LGBTs are naturals at diplomacy

Richard Kim: Rachel Maddow for Press Secretary

James Kirchick: How a gay appointee could strengthen democracy

Ross LaJeunesse: We need a GLBT Calif. Governor

Rue McClanahan: My Chairman would know Alexander the Great

Jon Mallow: Why a gay official won’t matter

Irene Monroe: A history lesson

Robert Rabin: We need a gay Supreme Court Justice – and we need her now

Danny Roberts: Young gays need an openly-serving military offical to look up to

Charlie Rounds: This country needs a good, old-fashioned house cleaning

Dana Rudolph: Preparation for citizenship

Aubrey Sarvis: A Frank voice in the military

Joe Solmonese: Beyond the obvious

Geoffrey Stone: Providing a distinct perspective

Sarah Warn: Give Lesbos back to the lesbians

Bob Witeck: Vital access to the President’s ear