The Trump administration has changed Rachel Levine’s name on her official portrait to deadname her, which she has labelled a “petty action.”

Levine was appointed under Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 as the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, which is a four-star admiral position overseeing the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service.

Her appointment was history-making because she became the first trans person to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation, the first openly trans four-star officer in any of the United States uniformed services and – at the time – was the nation’s highest-ranking, openly trans federal official.

Following Trump’s return to the White House in January, Levine was replaced by Republican Brian Christine who backs bans on gender-affirming care and has touted conspiracies about Covid-19.

In recent weeks, amid the US government shutdown, Levine’s official portrait in the Humphrey Building – the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services – was altered to change her first name to her deadname.

The change was confirmed to NPR by department spokesperson Andrew Nixon, who told the outlet: “Our priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science.

“We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.”

“I’m not going to comment on this type of petty action”

In response, Levine – who has consistently spoken out against anti-trans rhetoric – insisted she was honoured to serve the American people in her role and said: “My focus has been and continues to be on public health and health equity. I’m not going to comment on this type of petty action.”

Adrian Shanker, former deputy assistant secretary for health policy and who worked with Levine, told NPR the decision to officially deadname Levine is an act “of bigotry against her”.

“During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine’s photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name,” Shanker said.

An anonymous staffer at the department also described the change as “disrespectful” and added it exemplifies “the erasure of transgender individuals by this administration”.

The move comes nearly a year after Trump signed a raft of executive orders specifically targeting the trans community, which have sought to essentially purge trans people from public life.

One of his first executive orders, entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government“, outlined – amongst its many mandates – that it would be the policy of the US government to only “recognise two sexes, male and female”. The administration said this binary would be used to “defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male”.

Further to this, since his inauguration Trump has signed executive orders banning transgender people from serving in the military, barring trans women from female sport and restricting gender-affirming healthcare for trans youngsters under the age of 19. He has also moved to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes across the government and in the military.

The portrait name change is not the first time Rachel Levine has faced bigotry over the course of her career.

In 2022, Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, best-known for her firebrand MAGA persona – deadnamed Levine in a series of posts on X – then called Twitter – and grotesquely described her support for accessible gender-affirming care for trans youth as “pre-teen #WeenieChop”.

It is important to note it is incredibly rare for gender-affirming surgery to be performed on minors, and unheard of for young children, nor did Levine ever recommended that trans children should undergo surgery.

Rather, transgender or gender non-conforming minors are more likely to be treated with reversible puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy.

The social media platform refused to remove the hateful posts, with a spokesperson telling PinkNews at the time that while the tweets did violate Twitter’s rules on hateful conduct it “determined it may be in the public’s interest for them to remain accessible”.

Earlier that year, X.com also refused to remove a similarly hateful post about Levine by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, in which he deliberately misgendered her.

Marjorie Taylor Greene further attacked Levine in a speech given on the House floor some months later, in which she called for Levine’s salary to be reduced to just $1 while misgendering and deadnaming her.

Standing in front of a sign that read “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. ‘Trust the science!’”, Greene outlined her proposed amendment would “reduce – no, castrate the salary of Assistant Secretary of Health [deadname] Levine to $1, the same way [she] supports castrating children who suffer from gender dysphoria”.

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