President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet may become even more colorful!

In addition to a number of black and female members, Obama’s transition team has reportedly started vetting openly gay union activist Mary Beth Maxwell to head the Labor Department. Though she’s going up against the likes of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Maxwell’s already received the backing of gay rights organization Human Rights Campaign and Representative David Boinier, who, interestingly, has also been named as a potential labor pick. The Wall Street Journal provides a bit more background on Maxwell’s bio:

Maxwell is the perfect labor secretary you’ve probably never heard of: a gay woman, community organizer and labor leader with an adopted African American son. And this founding executive director of American Rights at Work is about to get the full-court press….

Many labor leaders are thrilled by Maxwell’s potential position, with AFL-CIO and Change to Win, which is made of Service Employees, giving her a thumbs up. Other labor leaders, meanwhile, wonder whether Maxwell’s got the chops to take the national stage. This picture of Maxwell fired up at this Change to Win rally gives us a feeling she can hold her own. We don’t know what she’s saying, but it sure looks good.