Hillary Clinton Addresses Issue of LGBT Personnel at State Department

At yesterday's Secretary of State confirmation hearings, Senator Russ Feingold asked Hillary Clinton about difficulties faced by LGBT employees at the State Department.

FEINGOLD: So I look forward to working with you. Let me switch to something completely different. There's widespread recognition of the need to build a more robust and effective diplomatic and development corps. And as a part of that effort, it, of course, makes sense to consider ways to address challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, particularly relating to domestic partner benefits and State Department policies that make it difficult for the partners of foreign service officers to travel and live at overseas posts. What would you do as secretary of state to address these concerns? Will you support changes to existing personnel policy in order to ensure that LGBT staff at State and USAID receive equal benefits and support?

CLINTON: Senator, this issue was brought to my attention during the transition. I've asked to have more briefing on it because I think that we should take a hard look at the existing policy. As I understand it, but don't hold me to it because I don't have the full briefing material, but my understanding is other nations have moved to extend that partnership benefit. And we will come back to you to inform you of decisions we make going forward.

Issues of inequality and unfair treatment at the State Department were highlighted last year when departing Ambassador to Romania Michael Guest criticized the agency's failure to deal with them. Guest took a parting shot at Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his retirement ceremony for failing to answer his calls to address LGBT issues. Said Guest: "This was my last chance. I never got a response. I don't know that I expected a response. What I wanted was attention to the issue....One word from the secretary [would have spurred action]. That's what I was hoping, that I would somehow get to her heart."

Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA) was pleased with the Feingold-Clinton exchange, and released the following statement:

"GLIFAA plans to present to the incoming Secretary of State a letter signed by over 2,000 current and former employees of the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies, requesting fairness for LBGT employees. GLIFAA board members also met with members of President-elect Obama's transition team at the Department of State in December. GLIFAA President Michelle Schohn welcomed Senator Clinton's acknowledgement that fairer policies serve as good business sense. Schohn noted that LGBT U.S. diplomats and aid workers serve overseas in some of the most dangerous locations, but continue to be denied equal treatment for their families. She expressed hope that the incoming Administration would work quickly to implement overdue reforms...Among many other obstacles, LGBT partners lack access to affordable health insurance coverage and resources for moving abroad. During overseas tours, employees' partners do not receive assistance in obtaining a visa and lack access to employment opportunities, emergency evacuation, and embassy medical units, all afforded to married, heterosexual couples."

Earlier
Hillary Clinton Looks Headed for Swift Secretary of State Approval [tr]

News: Baltimore, Claymates, Folsom Street, PETA, Brad Pitt

Baltimore police probe shooting of gay man as possible hate crime: "Police spokeswoman Officer Nicole Monroe says the shooting occurred shortly after midnight Monday in the 600 block of Howard Street. A gay couple was walking on the street when a man on a bicycle approached one of the two men and engaged him in conversation. Monroe says the second man walked ahead several feet, heard what sounded like two gunshots and saw his companion was injured. The man with the bike fled on foot, then returned for his bicycle and left the scene."

Michelle Obama pens Advocate op-ed: "The World As it Should Be."

Obama to pose for cover of Men's Health.

Blindsided Claymates apoplectic over Clay Aiken's coming out: "please tell me I'm not the only one who is shocked beyond belief! I feel numb I'm so upset. This can't be real!! How can you guys say this won't change anything? This changes EVERYTHING. I don't even know what to think right now"

Lobbying firm of Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, remains on the payroll of Freddie Mac. McCain attacks story but does not deny.

Was Condoleezza Rice passed up for VP because of her sexuality?: "It was the persistent rumors about her sexuality that ultimately killed her chances and removed her from the list...In Washington circles, it’s just assumed Rice is gay and nobody really cares. But in the glare of the media spotlight, those rumors were bound to get magnified a thousandfold and the mainstream media would have had an excuse to reveal the facts that would have caused conniption fits among the Republican base."

Log Cabin Republican slams "wacky left bloggers" for outing McCain chief of staff Mark Buse.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian profiles Kink.com's takeover of the San Francisco Armory.

Fundie Peter LaBarbera makes annual trip to San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair to confront Mayor Gavin Newsom.

A look back at "coming out" covers.

NYT David Pogue looks at the T-Mobile G-1 running Google Android.

Madonna tour towels seized in Montenegro: "The Queen Of Pop travels with 300 expensive designer towels for her and her dancers to use when they come off stage. But officials in Montenegro confiscated the lot because they were suspicious about the number she was taking into the country. A source said: 'The customs people had never come across that kind of volume of towels for personal use before, or the cost given for them. People in Montenegro just aren’t used to spending that much on a towel.'"

Drew Barrymore inserting herself between rumored gay Gossip Girl co-stars.

Bad boys: The Sarah Palin email hacker and the Britney Spears single leaker.

Brad Pitt forced into hideous yellow terrycloth get-up!

Latifah: Hairspray sequel still in the works.

PETA urges Ben & Jerry's to switch from cow milk to human breast milk: "PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves."

Scott Pomfret, author of gay erotica and a lector at a Boston Catholic church, loses the latter job over new book: "Pomfret's latest book, a sarcastic memoir titled 'Since My Last Confession,' proved too much for the friars, many of whom were interviewed by Pomfret as he wrote the book. The book suggests that some local clergy, who are given fictional names, are sexually active, and is mocking toward Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston."

News: Geology, Mr. Blackwell, Pageants, Clay Aiken, Montauk

John Edwards admits affair, says he lied during campaign.

Condoleezza Rice undermines McCain arguments, says U.S. would be safe with Obama: "Oh, the United States will be fine. I think that we are having an important debate about how we keep the country safe. I think we are having an important debate about our responsibilities, our obligations, our interests in the Middle East in the wake of the now increasing evidence of success in Iraq. Those are important judgments for the American people to make."

Settled: The "Monster" that washed up on the beach last week in Montauk, NY was a viral marketing campaign.

At 8:08 on 08/08/08: Singer Clay Aiken is a proud father.

Log Cabin Republicans launch Republicans Against Prop. 8"...Scott Schmidt: "Marriage is a personal decision. It's not up to the long arm of the government of when, where and whom you should get married to."

Sting goes shirtless for the final show of The Police in New York City.

Radar on the unsung heroes of the child beauty pageant circuit: gay men.

Wingnut Randy Thomasson warns against horrors of 'Harvey Milk Day': "This will harm children as young [sic] kindergarten. Every May 22, AB 2567 will positively portray to children homosexual experimentation, homosexual 'marriages,' sex-change operations, and anything else that's 'in the closet.' Governor Schwarzenegger should say no to this very inappropriate bill, which has nothing to do with academic excellence."

Quentin Tarantino signs Brad Pitt for World War II action-drama Inglorious Bastards: "The 44-year-old actor will play a Southern rebel who assembles a team of eight prisoners-turned-soldiers to battle the Nazis."

Group compiling dynamic first-of-its-kind map of Earth's geology.

Connecticut man attempts murder to end gay rumors.

Diva in polka dots: Elton John makes splash in Saint-Tropez.

Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell hospitalized, emerges from coma.

Canadian border agents confiscate laptop over gay porn: "While the gay men watched, a CBSA agent sat in their truck and poked through the contents of the laptop. When he ran into locked material, he got the passwords from them. Rick and Shawn say that, in retrospect, it was a slapdash search. The laptop was combed, but not their cell phones, Shawn's Blackberry, or the loose burned CDs in the truck's glove compartment. The CBSA officers went into their office. Time ticked by as Rick and Shawn pondered what to do next. About an hour later, a CBSA officer came back with bad news. 'He came back and said 'We're going to have to confiscate the laptop.' I asked why. He said it had 'questionable material,'' says Rick."

BLOCKED: Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church also held up at Canadian border.

Call Me Madame VP

Two articles I read while flying back and forth to my grandma’s 90th birthday party in Michigan bolster my gut feeling that McCain might be strongly considering a woman as his veep.

First, in Condé Nast Portfolio, ousted Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina—who's already been working for McCain as a tech and economic (!) advisor—is floated as a potential choice by Matthew Cooper:

"A lifelong Republican who didn’t talk much about politics during her business career, Fiorina is classically conservative, which makes her a good fit for McCain, who needs to bring large numbers of core Republican voters to the polls in order to win. She's against abortion rights (though, like McCain, she does support stem-cell research). She opposes gun control, she's a free-trader, and she's a tax cutter: 'It’s the only way to spur in-no-va-tion,' she says, rolling out each syllable."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #245

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: The Secretary lies about making false statements before the Iraq war.

HILLARY CLINTON: Clinton wants a debate in Wisconsin.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Her recent appearance on Larry King Live.

DAVID ARCHULETA: 16-year-old American Idol contestant sings "Heaven" at Hollywood audition.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Former Ambassador Michael Guest's Retirement Remarks

Departing Ambassador to Romania Michael Guest's parting shot at the State Department over its failure to address inequalities in rules and regulations as they apply to the gay and lesbian partners of foreign service officers was written up in the Washington Post this evening.

I mentioned it briefly in the news round-up earlier today but I think it's worth mentioning again because of the WaPo piece, and because I have Guest's full farewell speech (which I've posted after the jump).

Officials attending the ceremony talked to the paper. Said John Naland, the president of the American Foreign Service Association: "If everyone is saying we need to do more, then let's do more."

Pat Kennedy, the undersecretary for management, added: "The Secretary and the State Department do not discriminate on hiring or promotions. "These are complex issues. We are committed to giving our personnel the support they need to get their jobs done."

According to the paper, "J. Michelle Schohn, an officer in the intelligence bureau, said she gave up a budding career in archaeology and joined the foreign service simply because of the hassles she encountered when her partner was based in Azerbaijan, shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed. One of her partner's colleagues got married and his spouse immediately got a diplomatic passport, but Schohn was treated no differently than any American tourist. Because of the difficulties, she ended up flying to Azerbaijan a month at a time to stay with her partner, and received no housing allowance for staying home. At one point, during violent protests, 'had there been an evacuation, we would have had to pay to evacuate me,' she said.

The WaPo notes: "The travel costs of family pets, however, are paid for by the State Department."

And Guest added to his comments from his retirement ceremony: "This was my last chance. I never got a response. I don't know that I expected a response. What I wanted was attention to the issue....One word from the secretary [would have spurred action]. That's what I was hoping, that I would somehow get to her heart."

Perhaps she was on the Elliptical.

Former Ambassador Blasts State Dept. for Treatment of Gay Employees [washington post]

Guest's full commentary, AFTER THE JUMP...