LGBT and ally members of the Foreign Service recently celebrated the Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies' 20th anniversary.
"Our people should not have to choose between serving the country they love and sharing a life with the people they love," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told more than 300 members of the Foreign Service who gathered in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the State Department November 28.
It was the first time a secretary of state attended a GLIFAA event.
The celebration included some of the founding members �" David Buss and David Larson and Michael Guest, a former ambassador �" among other prominent individuals.
Clinton reiterated her position that allowing LGBT individuals to serve openly in government and abroad as ambassadors of the U.S. is the "smart thing to do" and in many ways is the American thing to do.
Protecting LGBT rights at home and around the world is a part of the U.S.'s commitment to human rights, valuing people's talents rather than devaluing people because they are LGBT simply makes us "more effective," she said.
Gay Foreign Service employees noted things are different now.
"[It's] striking to me how dramatically things have changed," Bob Gilchrist, a gay man who has served in the Foreign Service for 22 years, said in a Skype interview from Estonia.
Gilchrist, who twice served as president of GLIFAA, described a time when people would move to the other side of the cafeteria when GLIFAA would celebrate Pride and it was difficult to find allies in the State Department.
Clinton's presence at the event was "an affirmation of all of our work," he said.
After decades of fear and isolation in the Foreign Service that included the Diplomatic Security conducting investigations into the lives of individuals who were suspected to be queer, a handful of gay men had enough of the department's McCarthy-style policies and tactics. In 1992, Buss and his partner Larson, who also worked in the Foreign Service, set out to change the State Department and its sister agencies.
It was all about timing and figuring out how to beat the system. Others attempted before them, but failed, according to GLIFAA's historical retrospective.
In 1988, Buss was informed that he was under investigation. It could have ruined his career as it did many other LGBT members of the Foreign Service, but Buss decided to fight with the help of the late gay activist Frank Kameny and a team of experts.
"I was so affronted by the discriminatory treatment I received and humiliation of it, it turned me into somebody who wasn't going to stand for it anymore," said Buss, 60, who retired after a 34-year career in the Foreign Service.
Together, they figured out the keys to surviving an investigation, saved his career, and educated the heads of the department's human resources, diplomatic security, and the Office of the Inspector General. At the end of the process he offered up his experience to others as a resource and was the connector that began to bring other LGBT Foreign Service members together.
"GLIFAA's greatest contributions have been to constantly push the envelope for LGBT employees and their families in the government," said Timothy "TJ" Lunardi, a 35-year-old gay agent in the Diplomatic Security Service and former GLIFAA president.
Kenneth A. Kero-Mentz, president of GLIFAA, recognized how far LGBTs in the Foreign Service have come, but that much work remains to be done, particularly around the Defense of Marriage Act, children of LGBT Foreign Service members, and more, he said.
"In an historic sense, it's amazing how far we've come so fast," said Kero-Mentz, a 42-year-old gay man. "On a personal level, we have so much to do" in "our fight for equality."
Yet, the evening was a time to reflect on the progress GLIFAA has made.
"I'm very proud of what has been done and it has drawn attention to something that was hidden for so many years. People have hid significant part of themselves from their peers and from their supervisors and I'm just delighted that is no longer the case," said Buss, aware that some discrimination in society will continue to happen, but it will no longer be institutionalized in government.
To watch the commemoration, visit http://tinyurl.com/c2rcbtx.
U.N. head calls for end of violence against LGBTs
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week asked public officials and celebrities to stand up for LGBT people around the world and called for the end to anti-LGBT discrimination and violence.
Flanked by out international star Ricky Martin and South African ally songstress Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Ban reiterated for the third consecutive year that LGBT individuals are "entitled to the same rights as everyone else. They, too, are born free and equal."
"It is an outrage that in our modern world, so many countries continue to criminalize people simply for loving another human being of the same sex," said Ban celebrating International Human Rights Day at a special event for LGBTs at the U.N. Headquarters in New York Monday, December 10.
"In most cases, these laws are not home-grown. They were inherited from former colonial powers," he added, referencing recent anti-gay bans, most notably in Russia and Uganda, but also similar laws proposed in Hungary, Ukraine, Lithuania, Nigeria, Cameroon, and other countries.
"These laws must go," he said. "We must all speak out against homophobia, especially those who are considered leaders in society as well as others in the public eye."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, agreed. Success in the struggle "is a question of actually living and working in our countries for freedom and justice for each human being," she said in a statement.
Rice is a potential candidate to replace Clinton when she steps down. [Updated 12/13/12: On Thursday multiple media outlets reported that Rice has removed her name from consideration for secretary of state.]
More than 76 countries still criminalize consensual, same-sex relationships. In other countries discrimination against LGBT people is widespread �" including the workplace and in the education and health sectors. Hate-motivated violence against LGBT people, including physical assault, sexual violence, and targeted killings, has been recorded in all regions.
To see Ban's speech, visit http://tinyurl.com/aqu3xm2.
Violence in Ukraine
Ukrainian LGBT and ally activists were attacked during an International Human Rights Day march and rally that attracted an estimated 100 individuals protesting a proposed anti-gay propaganda law on December 8, reported the Kyiv Post.
The activists were allegedly beaten by ultranationalists.
One participant sustained a broken nose, while others were sprayed with teargas. Six people were detained by police, reported the Post .
The LGBT community accused the nationalist Svoboda Party for the attack, however party leaders denied involvement.
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