CNN’s Jake Tapper, along with many others in the media, used the word “historic” to announce that Pete Buttigieg would be the next U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Headlines made sure to note Buttigieg is the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ cabinet member in U.S. history. 

Buttigieg is former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a great town but not one with a complicated public transportation system. When his nomination was announced, Buttigieg tweeted he “loved” transportation and had even proposed to his husband in an airport terminal. Other than that, it’s not clear why President Biden thought him the most qualified person for the job. 

To use the term “historic” is to diminish the word, to diminish Buttigieg (who is more than his sexuality), and to diminish his new office, which merits someone with appropriate qualifications. 

If firing someone because of their gender identity or sexual orientation is discriminatory, isn’t hiring someone for the same reason just as discriminatory? 

Either way, it’s not progress, and it’s certainly not historic.