Laphonza Butler, who California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Sunday to finish out the late Dianne Feinsteins Senate term, will make history when shes sworn in.

She will be the first Black, openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve in either chamber of Congress.

Today she shatters a rainbow ceiling in becoming the first out Black LGBTQ+ U.S. senator and she will serve knowing her presence and impact will be felt in countless ways, Annise Parker, the president and CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, said in a statement Monday.

Laphonza is a champion for building a more inclusive and representative government and will certainly be a champion for women, people of color and LGBTQ+ people, said Parker, a former mayor of Houston. The U.S. Senate is our most prestigious legislative body, but also one where change is slow. Laphonzas appointment today is an exception to that rule, being a big step forward in our push for a more representative government.

It is only right that a Black woman who has paved the way for countless others to lead is now given an opportunity to lead herself, said NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson. The NAACP commends Governor Newsom for taking steps to fill the gaps in representation that currently exist within our Senate ... One thing is clear Black women are supreme.

Butler, 44, is currently the president of EMILYs List, a political action committee that backs Democratic female candidates who support abortion rights. She is a former longtime senior adviser to now-Vice President Kamala Harris, and for more than a decade, she was the president of SEIU Local 2015, the largest labor union in California.

Her background and years of experience will bring a much-needed perspective to the Senate, which currently does not have any Black women, said Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. As the first lesbian Black woman in the U.S. Senate, Laphonza will bring an important perspective to the upper house at a time when the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community are under attack.