Gay Foreign Affairs Group Making Strides but Still Has Long To-Do List by Sanjay Talwani Bob Gilchrist, the new president of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA), doesnít have to hide his sexual orientation from the federal government. But 10 years ago, things were different. The State Department could revoke security clearance for gays and lesbians. Partners were hidden and relationships were often clandestine. Career Foreign Service officers faced interrogation or outright hostility. Many were forced to choose between partner and career. Today, thereís an openly gay U.S. ambassadoróAmericaís secondóand when GLIFAA met recently to pick new officers, the focus seemed as much on mingling and catching up as it did on the policy agenda. But although gays and lesbians in the Foreign Service and international agencies enjoy some level of openness and some benefits for their partners, GLIFAAís battles are far from over. ìWeíre halfway there,î said Gilchrist, noting that partners traveling abroad with Foreign Service or U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers do not receive the same benefits as opposite-sex spouses and are often not able to work abroad. ìThe U.S. government will pay for your catís tran sportation but not for your partnerís,î Gilchrist said. Itís that kind of basic workplace parity that remains on GLIFAAís to-do list. Foreign Service workers must pick up and move overseas, by the very virtue of their jobs. Whether workers meet a lifelong companion abroad or want to bring one with them to a foreign post, they lack rights that married workers take for granted: to have their families accompany them and seek work and long-term residency in their host country. ìPeopleís relationships fall apart,î said Gilchrist. ìAnd our families, as we see it, are just as important as everybody elseís.î A Decade of Advances From GLIFAAís vantage point, much of the world has changed since a handful of State Department and USAID workers met in 1992 to try to save their careers. Many were under investigation by Diplomatic Security for allegations of being gay. According to GLIFAA, one person was under investigation because he subscribed to The Village Voice. ìUntil 1993, it wasnít possible for people like me to aspire for an ambassadorial post because of department restrictions,î said James Hormel, the first openly gay U.S. ambassador, who served in Luxembourg in the late 1990s. In 1994, a nondiscrimination policy issued by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright covered sexual orientation. In 1997, the State Department established a policy to investigate such discrimination. And in 2000, more benefits were made available to workersí unmarried household members, gay or otherwise. ìThereís not pervasive the discrimination that there might have been 10 years ago, but still I think that many of our members are not [open] in the workplace because they know itís easier to simply hide in the closet,î said Gilchrist. ìAnd still people put up with epithets and stuff like that.î Others, however, simply leave government service rather than strain their relationships or live apart from their partners. Many senior staff members stay quiet about their personal lives because they fear personal attacks, not from co-workers, but from the U.S. Senateóif they are ever nominated for ambassador or assistant secretary posts. With this in mind, GLIFAA tries to support members through that process when necessary and to encourage members to be open about their lives. GLIFAA also works with international gay and lesbian groups, supports workers with discrimination complaints, and gives information to people interested in the Foreign Service. Much of its activity is informal. Another issue is the State Department policy on HIV-positive workers. Current policy eliminates HIV-positive people from postings abroad, although it does allow workers to apply for waivers to the rule. But because the infected can live without symptoms and with minimal medication for many years, many feel this system is outdated. Visa Parity For U.S. workers abroad as well as foreign nationals in the United States, getting a work visa for a partner is often daunting. Typically, a worker at an international agency in Washington can bring along a noncitizen partner, but the partner will enter with a tourist visa, which requires renewal every six months and does not allow the person to work. ìIt really makes it difficult for us,î said one World Bank senior staffer, a European who did not want his name or nationality revealed. ìThe U.S. is host to these international agencies and should accommodate their needs.î Ironically, he noted, the World Bank itself recognizes domestic partners, as does the State Department, the city of Washington, D.C., and numerous American corporations and government entities. Officially, those with tourist visas are supposed to have intentions of returning home some day. But the World Bank staffer said heís been in the United States for more than a decade and could be here for decades more, and his partner intends to stay as well. The partner can seek other ways to work here, such as the H-class visa given to foreigners when requested by a U.S. employer. But until then, the partner remains in limbo, forced to leave the United States periodically and never knowing for sure whether the next extension will be granted. ìI would not continue to work here if he were not allowed to stay here,î the worker said. Many wonder: What will happen when workers from countries that recognize same-sex unionsósuch as Sweden or the Netherlandsódemand the privileges typically given to spouses of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and embassy and U.N. staff? One Latin American officer at the IMF said that such agencies do help same-sex partners obtain their tourist visas but shy away from pressing for the G-4 visa given to workersí spouses. This officer, who also wanted his name withheld, said that every time his partner re-enters the country, his future is uncertain. ìItís very troublesome and very worrisome when you come into immigration and you donít know what their reaction is going to be,î he said. Welcome Guests For many gay and lesbian Foreign Service workers, U.S. Ambassador Hormel is a pioneer. Heir to a meat-processing fortune and longtime philanthropist and Democratic party activist, Hormel was first designated U.S. ambassador to Fiji in 1994. No one in Washington seemed to care about his sexual orientation, even after detailsóaccurate ones, Hormel saidóappeared in the ìIn the Loopî column in The Washington Post. But then The Fiji Times picked up the item on its front page. ìGay Activist May Be Next U.S. Ambassador,î the Times blared. It was a sensitive time in Fijian politicsóthe Indian minority had assumed power for the first timeóand in the United States, the Republicans gained control of the Senate after the 1994 elections. The Clinton administration eventually dropped the matter. In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated Hormel ambassador to Luxembourg. Even under the leadership of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), a man not known for sympathy to gay causes, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee endorsed Hormelís nomination, 16-2. But anti-gay groups fought his appointment in the full Senate. Clinton ended up bypassing the Senate by appointing Hormel while the body was in recess. Hormel and others note that there have probably been plenty of gay ambassadors through the years, but the partners were disguised as butlers or assistants. In 2001, the nomination of Michael Guest as ambassador to Romania went smoothly. But Guest is a different case. Heís a career Foreign Service officer with Eastern European expertise. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by a Democratic Senate. Unlike Hormel, he has no history of gay activism, and his orientation was not widely known. GLIFAA, the Log Cabin Republicans (a gay group) and the Family Research Council (an anti-gay group) all identify Guest as gay. ìSo he arrived at his swearing-in ceremony without having had any public attention on his sexual orientation. Then-Secretary [of State Colin] Powell, much to his credit, chose to conduct the swearing-in ceremony himself and to acknowledge the guyís partner, which I thought was terrific,î Hormel said. ìI was ecstatic,î said Gilchrist, who attended the swearing-in. Through a spokesman, Guest declined to be interviewed about the issue of sexual orientation. But the spokesman said that negative reaction in Romania was minor and limited to the far right of that country. Like Gilchrist, Hormel sees this c ause as only half complete. ìI know of several peopleóAmerican citizensówho are moving to other countries so they can be with their partners in a climate that is less hostile than the one here. I like to point out that if the United States were located in Europe, it wouldnít qualify for membership in the European Union,î Hormel said. ìI was at the annual convention of PFLAG [Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays],î he continued, ìand there was Judy Shepard [mother of murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard] there to remind all of us that hatred leads to horrendous consequences, and we allow people in this country to fuel that hatred with their vitriolic comments. And itís very sad.î For more information on GLIFAA, please call (202) 232-1588, visit www.glifaa.org (still under construction), or e-mail glifaa@hotmail.com. Sanjay Talwani is a freelance writer in Arlington, Va.