Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Monday that he has appointed Maria Montaño to be his administration’s press secretary.

With the appointment, Montaño becomes the city’s first openly transgender woman to serve as a mayoral press secretary.

“She brings a wealth of communications, media and lived experience to my administration, and I am confident in her commitment to making Pittsburgh a more livable city for all of us,” Gainey said in a news release.

Montaño, 40, of Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, previously served as a spokesperson for SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the state’s largest union of health care and hospital workers. She also worked with Councilwoman Erika Strassburger to expand protections for the LGBTQ+ community in Pittsburgh.

“I am looking forward to working with the administration and other city leaders to lift up our great city and communicate the incredible work that Mayor Gainey and his entire administration is doing every day,” Montaño said.

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