Secretary Kerry Speaks at GLIFAA Pride Event

Secretary Kerry spoke yesterday at GLIFAA's annual Pride Event. Wish I could have been there.

Remarks at GLIFAA Pride Event

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ben Franklin Room

Washington, DC

June 19, 2014
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SECRETARY KERRY: Robyn, thank you very, very much. Thank you to all of you. Welcome to this celebration of pride here at State, and I’m very, very honored to have a chance to be able to talk with everybody. And thank you especially for putting up with my tardiness, which is not my fault. Blame Iraq and – (laughter) – a few other places. But I’m really delighted to be here. Robyn’s leadership is terrific, and Robyn works very, very closely with all of us on the 7th floor. I could list any number of her accomplishments during her tenure, but let me just share two very quickly.

Her advocacy and partnership with OPM and with Under Secretary Kennedy – where is he? Somewhere here. Right in front of me. (Laughter.) Well, Pat, thank you very much. That advocacy made an enormous difference, and through it, she helped to lift the exclusionary ban that prevented insurance companies from providing coverage for medical needs to gender transition. And she’s also made it her mission to ensure that our employees overseas can be accompanied by their families, and I think very few people have cared more, done more, or fought more to make that happen. So Robyn, thank you for your leadership. I really appreciate it. (Applause.)

I have to add something else. Robyn is the first transgender Foreign Service officer to come out on the job, and believe me it wasn’t easy. I think everybody here knows that. When she was posted in Bucharest, she faced a lot of prejudice, she had to deal with completely inappropriate judgments that people were making, questions about her abilities, but she didn’t just persevere. In the end, she won the hearts of the Ambassador, her career Foreign Service colleagues, Civil Service colleagues, and the local staff, and she actually made Embassy Bucharest a model of acceptance. She even authored the first State Department report on transgender issues, and she didn’t just get through a difficult period, she was determined to turn it into a precedent-setting event, and as a result she made it a lot easier for those – or at least a little easier for those who follow. And I can’t begin to tell you and I think everybody here knows what a difference that has made.

I also want to thank our guest of honor, Masha Gessen, for her own special perseverance and advocacy. When all the repressive anti-LGBT laws in Russia threatened literally to break apart her family, she put up a fight. Fearlessly, she spoke out on Russia’s only independent television channel, and her Pink Triangle Campaign, which everybody became familiar with, unleashed a wave of grassroots activism. And the government in Moscow may look at Masha as a troublemaker to contend with, but here in the United States, we know that she is a wonderful person – a mother, a journalist, an extraordinary human rights defender – and we are honored by her presence here. Thank you for being here. (Applause.)

Now I know that all of us right now are more than aware of – we can palpably feel the wave of new, growing – the trend if you will, in some places for anti-LGBT laws that are metastasizing in various places. And for some it’s, obviously, easy to get alarmed by that. But let me just share this with you: I don’t think it’s time to get alarmed. I think it’s time to get active. Because your activism and your energy and your pushback – it won’t be the first time you’ve pushed back – can make all the difference in the world for a lot of people. And if anybody doesn’t believe that, just take a look at the recent history that we’ve all lived through here.

I came to the Senate in 1985. It was a time when AIDS was pilloried as a “gay disease.” And somehow that may have been deemed to give some people the permission to ignore it. I remember just a few years later, I testified before Strom Thurmond’s Armed Services Committee at an open hearing to speak out as a combat veteran about why gays ought to be allowed to serve openly in the military, and I ran into a world of misperceptions. Three years after that, I was the only United States Senator, as Robyn mentioned, to vote against DOMA.

Now – the only one who was running for reelection – there were 14 of us. Only 14 who voted against it. Today, that would never pass. That is an amazing journey. That’s a statement about how far we have come. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed. LGBT[1] Americans who are willing to die for their country are today allowed to fight for their country. And we’ve gone from a Senate that passed DOMA over my objections to one that recently welcomed its first openly lesbian United States Senator.

We’ve gone from a Senate where AIDS was a forbidden topic, to one where we were able to finally get Jesse Helms to join us in unanimously passing the first anti–AIDS legislation. And subsequently now, PEPFAR is in its 11th year and we stand on the brink of an AIDS-free generation. And I am proud to be the first sitting Secretary of State to support same-sex marriage working for the first President of the United States to support same-sex marriage.

So all of us in this room are pretty well aware of the debt that we owe to those who came before us, and whether it is those who stood up after Stonewall or incredible, inspiring visionaries like Harvey Milk. And I’m proud to follow in the footsteps of an extraordinary advocate for the cause. When Hillary Clinton gave that speech in front of the Human Rights Council in Geneva and said five simple words, “Gay rights are human rights,” she transformed the debate. And standing here with Robyn, I want to build on that legacy, because LGBT rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBT rights.

The State Department, I’m proud to say, has always been at the forefront of equality in the federal government. And that’s why I was proud to announce during my visit to London last year that we were tearing down an unjust and unfair barrier that for far too long stood in the way of same-sex families traveling together to the United States. And I was personally honored to hand over the first visa within two months of the Supreme Court’s historic Windsor decision.

I am proud that we worked with GLIFAA and Pat Kennedy to press OPM to remove its exclusionary language from health insurance plans so that employees who have undergone a gender transition can get the health care that they need. And that’s what it means to fight and that’s what it means to win in a battle that we all know matters enormously, not as a matter of making these things a privilege, but to make sure that they are, in fact, a right.

So I am very proud of the progress that we are now making even in appointing LGBT ambassadors. I worked with the committee here at the State Department – with the D Committee, and I worked with the White House. And as a result, Ted Osius, sitting here, whom I’ve known a long time, and his family I know, will be the first openly LGBT officer nominated to serve as an ambassador in Asia. And on confirmation, he’s going to join five openly gay ambassadors who are now serving their country. I’m working hard to ensure that by the end of my tenure, we will have lesbian, bisexual, and transgender ambassadors in our ranks as well.

Now, I see the possibilities for the simple reason that we now have hundreds of LGBT individuals in our bureaus at State, USAID, and at posts all around the world. Foreign Service Officers like Lucia Piazza – where is Lucia? Somewhere – is she here? Not here right now. But she’s here in Washington. Kerri Hannan in Buenos Aires. Michelle Schohn and her wife, Mary Glantz, in Tallinn. And the wonderful thing about this is nobody looks at these folks when they’re out there and says, “Wow. That’s a great LGBT diplomat.” They look at them and say, “Those are great diplomats.” And that’s exactly how we make progress in this fight.

Now, we also know that none of this progress would have been possible without the courage and the creativity and innovation and effort of organizations like GLIFAA. And it’s an amazing journey. I have to tell you, I have very, very good friends in the LGBT/gay community throughout the country, particularly. One of them, David Mixner, who I knew for a long time – I met him way back when we were – you may know him as a strong advocate, but we met years ago in the anti-war movement – well before he came out. And I remember him lamenting to me on the telephone once, years ago, how difficult it was and how he was going to funeral after funeral after funeral during a period when nobody was paying attention to AIDS.

So I know this journey and know it through friends, and I think back then there were a lot of meetings of people in secret rooms. People knew that if they opened up about who they were in GLIFFA, it would be shut down, their careers would be destroyed. But even then there were people who stood up and fought, and people like AFSA, helpers like AFSA, and especially Sharon Papp – who has stood with our LGBT brothers and sisters since the beginning and who is standing with us today.

So we have come a long way at home, but everybody here knows there’s cloud hanging over this journey right now. We have a long, long way to go in the world. I won’t go into the details of a couple of conversations I’ve had with presidents of countries trying to move them on their current laws. From Uganda to Russia to Iran, LGBT communities face discriminatory laws and practices that attack dignity, undermine safety, and violate human rights. And we each have a responsibility to push back against a global trend of rising violence and discrimination against LGBT persons. Maybe all the success we’ve had here, we sort of felt, oh, gosh, it’s got to be happening everywhere else. But it hasn’t been. It’ll come. It’s going to take a while, and it’s going to take courage and patience, stamina in order to continue the fight. Because we need to make certain that we make it clear to people everywhere that there is a fundamental truth: Anti-LGBT violence anywhere is a threat to peace and stability and prosperity everywhere.

That’s why across the globe – Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas – our diplomats are supporting local LGBT organizations and human rights advocates. They’re one and the same. And through the Global Equality Fund, the State Department has provided critical emergency and long-term assistance to promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons in more than 25 countries. I’m proud that we’ve opened up the fund to corporate donations, and I want to urge our friends in the business community to step up their contributions to this cause. I was especially proud to speak at the first-ever ministerial on LGBT issues at the UN General Assembly last year, and I look forward to continuing to engage on this issue at the UN and other international fora.

So we are leading by example here. We are recognizing marriages for foreign diplomats who are assigned to the United States. Our Consular Affairs Bureau is implementing language on diplomatic passports to make sure we treat all spouses equally. Consular Affairs has also moved swiftly with other federal agencies to update our regulations after DOMA was struck down last year, and we’re now considering all visa applications made by same-sex spouses in the same manner as those made by opposite-sex spouses.

So let me be clear: We oppose any effort by any country to deny visas for spouses of American staff. It’s discriminatory, it’s unacceptable, it has no place in the 21st century. And I understand how challenging this issue is for all of you, which is why I’ve sent instructions to ambassadors at posts worldwide to engage at the highest levels on your behalf. Together we pay a price when these rights are trampled on, but together we win when these rights are protected.

One thing is clear: Making our shared vision a reality will require both the persistent protection of governments, as well as the active participation of citizens. I will never forget standing on the Capitol steps in October of 1998 when thousands gathered on a cool autumn evening, and we were there to remember Matthew Shepard two days after he’d been killed in Laramie, Wyoming. And as we gathered in the city of monuments, I posed a question: Is there a lesson that can become a monument to Matthew Shepard and to so many others who suffer because of the intolerance and prejudice of so few?

Matthew’s mother, Judy, later provided us an answer. As she struggled to make sense of a question that only God can answer, she said loving one another doesn’t mean that we have to compromise our beliefs. It simply means that we choose to be compassionate and respectful of others. In her life and in her work, Judy hasn’t just spoken words about compassion and respect. She has lived them. And I’m proud that she’s partnering with the State Department to speak out on these issues around the world. She is an example that reminds us we each have a responsibility to speak out loudly and clearly, and we each have to choose – and it is a choice – to be compassionate and respectful of others. And as Secretary of State, I am very proud of the choice that our country has been making these past years.

We’re here today to send a message: No matter where you are, no matter who you love, we stand with you. And that’s what pride means, and that’s what drives us today. The journey isn’t complete, the march isn’t over, the promise isn’t perfected. But we will march on together. Thank you all. (Applause.)

MODERATOR: Secretary Kerry, thank you for those words. I think I speak for many people in this room that I wanted to interrupt with applause a number of times. (Laughter.) If you can bear with us for just a few more minutes --

SECRETARY KERRY: So what the Hell’s the matter with you? (Laughter.) I’m joking. (Laughter.)

MODERATOR: -- I’ve got two questions that were submitted to us by GLIFAA members from around the world, and I’d like to pose them to you. The first question – I’ll just read it out, and reading it, I’m realizing I think you answered much of it already. But let me read it to you, in any case:

“Mr. Secretary, we’ve seen so much progress here at home, but I have to tell you that for us in GLIFAA, in many ways we’re feeling even more squeezed. All of us want to succeed, but the list of countries where we can serve is growing shorter and shorter. Countries that used to quietly give visas to our family members or our friends are now being asked for visas for our spouses, and that term is causing a kneejerk reaction in many countries.” This one member writes, “I personally counted all the jobs on my bid list, and I had to cross of 68 percent of them just because I’m gay and that country will not give a visa to my partner. We need your support, and we need the Department to do something more. So as much as we all want to succeed, this is a serious obstacle that is hurting us in our careers and hurting our families. How does the Department plan to address this?”

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thanks, Robyn. We are addressing it, I think you know. I think I spoke to that fairly – I made it pretty clear during the course of my comments. But look, we are instructing embassies to inform governments locally that this is our policy and that they need to honor our policy. It’s that simple. And a lot of governments will respond positively; obviously, some won’t. And where they don’t, if they don’t extend recognition and immunities, we’re going to instruct them that we’re also going to begin gathering information on the host government policies and practices on accreditation. And we will make this information that is relevant to assignments – make it easier for employees and all of you to sort of pick and choose and know what the lay of the land is.

But at some point in time, we may have to begin to make it clear to them that that can affect one program or another or the choices that we make. It’s not going to be a normal relationship. This is who we are, this what you have to respect, and that’s the way it is. And we’ll see how it goes as we collect this information and what the lay of the land is on that, but that 68 percent is daunting. And for – in one particular case, it doesn’t mean it’s across the board. But we’ve got to take a look at it, and we will push back. That’s the bottom line. (Applause.)

MODERATOR: Mr. Secretary, I know you’ve given great hope to our members with that statement. Our second question:

“Mr. Secretary, we hear so much about the difficulties faced by transgender persons around the globe. In so many countries, transgender persons are denied documents that reflect the gender in which they live their daily lives. And as a result, they are denied basic services, jobs, access to medicine, and too often they feel forced into sex work because they see no other choice. What is the Department doing to support the human rights of transgender persons?”

SECRETARY KERRY: Well again, this part of what I said. It’s really related to the first question also in many ways. It’s part and parcel of the same response in places. We have instructed our posts to report on and perform outreach to transgender communities in countries. In addition, we have instructed our human rights and health officers to raise transgender issues in their host countries, and we have encouraged our public affairs officers to include the needs of transgender groups in their programming, so that we are showing that this is something that we’re going to engage in. And we’re supporting civil society organizations that increase the protection of transgender persons who face the potential of acute violence.

So we’re taking steps specifically with respect to communities and with respect to the treatment of our folks. Again, it’s going to be clear and it is clear they need to make sure that they’re not discriminated against, and that our people expect – we expect, our nation expects that all of our people will be afforded the full measure of human rights that we afford them here in our country. And as time goes on now, we’ll accrue more and more information. We’ll have a better sense of who’s doing what, where the real trouble spots are and why. And we’ll be able to begin to build a policy of response to that over a period of time as we get a better sense, and hopefully isolate those people for those policies – hopefully, first, actually, break through and get them to simply change without – just as a matter of a reasonable conversation and an understanding.

But if it’s more entrenched and more broadly pervasive and damaging to our functioning in the way that we function, then we’re going to have to consider what the options are with respect to actions that we’ll take. And that’s something that will evolve over the course of the next year or two, and we’ll see where we are. But we’re not going to sit around and permit what we have fought for so hard to be undone. And as I said earlier, LGBT rights are human rights and human rights are LGBT rights, so we will protect them, period. (Applause.)

I was just given my instructions. I was being told I have to go. (Laughter.) I’m sorry. Thank you all, and happy Pride Day. Thanks. (Applause.)

MODERATOR: Secretary Kerry, thank you.

Happy Pride!

I have totally fallen down on the job. Here it is June, and I haven't even posted the first thing on Pride.

So, first things first, Happy Pride, y'all!

But I haven't totally shirked my LGBT duties. 

Happily for me, it is U.S. foreign policy to support LGBT rights in the world. So starting last month, I got to do just that in a couple ways. 

First, we flew the rainbow flag over the embassy. 

And second, I got to work with the UK embassy to draft a statement of support for the gender neutral partnership law that the Estonian government is considering. If passed, it would offer legal protections to unmarried couples regardless of gender, making Estonia the first formerly Soviet-occupied country to offer protections to same-sex couples. The statement was co-signed by the UK and three other countries. Members of Parliament told us they appreciated the support.

And then of course, there was Baltic Pride. Baltic Pride is an annual celebration that rotates around the three Baltic countries and was held here this year June 2-8. I was able to offer the local community support in a few ways. First, my section provided a grant to support an outdoor advertising campaign for the event. We also helped local NGO Diversity Enriches bring Ty Cobb, Global Director for the Human Rights Campaign, to speak at their conference "Equality: What Role for Civil Society?" Our DCM spoke at the conference as well. We also coordinated again with the UK Embassy to draft another statement of support, this time for Baltic Pride. We got 13 other embassies to sign on. I hope our efforts helped...it did earn us an "e-hug" from a fellow blogger.

What rhymes with "Hell"?

Oh that's right, it's CODEL.

I preface this by saying we have had three CODELS (short for Congressional Delegation) in the past several weeks, and they were fine. They were here for an appropriate reason, did not involve spouses, did not devolve into SHOPDELS. The Principals were mostly pleasant and the whole visits were relatively painless (I say relatively only because they came right at the same time as two major conferences that brought a bunch of high level folks from the Department plus we had a separate visit from another really high ranking person in the Department, AND we had the arrival of the 173rd Airborne AND we had the handover of the Baltic Air Policing mission AND we had some major military visitors AND we had the Secretary of the Army. AND we aren't done...).

So relatively painless, but exhausting anyway.

But back to CODELS. Al Kamen has an updated version of his Loop Guide to CODELS in the Washington Post.

One of my favorite of his rules is:

"Rule 2. Ditch the spouse: Spouses raise red flags for reporters. Reporters are no longer buying the dodge about spouses traveling “at no extra cost.” Understaffed embassy personnel have to schedule separate events and provide vans, maybe security, guides and so forth for day trips, sightseeing and shopping. Given chronic understaffing at U.S. embassies, this is hardly what those folks need to be doing."

I would add a few more rules if I were Queen of the World, you know, in the interests of members of CODELS not looking bad..

For example, Travel commercial air whenever possible. It saves the taxpayers A LOT of money, especially if you travel coach like the rest of us are required to do. Fiscal responsibility, you know.

When I posted the link to the article on Facebook, a lot of folks added their rules to. I share them, with details removed to protect the guilty.

"Do not demand that helicopters being used to search for missing soldiers be commandeered for your use because you brought a bunch of [INSERT FOOD ITEM FROM YOUR HOME STATE] with you and you want a photo op of you delivering it to your state's National guard troops, who are stationed at a forward operating base in a hot zone. Yeah, that happened."

"When at the last minute you decide an unexpectedly snowy location will not please your 16 colleagues and their spouses and it's your last stop on the trip, JUST GO HOME! Don't come to a warm location and ask for four different schedules -  with a few hours notice on the weekend. Not saying this actually happened but JUST DON'T DO IT!"

"When there's a small technical problem with milair, do not insist that your control officer buy one-way, first class tickets home when you can wait an hour or two for repairs."

"Avoid packing your CODEL with representatives from US territories solely to qualify for MilAir who will only play 4 rounds of golf on a 3 day junket and participate in no other events."

"Do not expect your favorite diet beverage other than Diet Coke to be readily available in a developing country. Also don't expect your favorite sports court of choice to be available in said developing country and do not force your Junior Officer control officer to play with you instead of going home to his or her family. You are on a "working" trip, right?"

And how about not pointedly thanking the military for their service and not the FSOs who are giving up their weekend to take care of you. We want to make you happy. We want your trip to be a success because we are here representing our country, yours and ours together. We know your trips can advance our country's foreign policy, and that is our goal here. But remember Kamen's rule two? About our chronic understaffing? A thank you for your service is nice to hear for us too.

90 Years of the Modern Foreign Service

In 1922, Lucile Atcherson Curtis took the Foreign Service exam
and passed with the 3rd highest score that year.
She went on to become the first female U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Dept of State 

We in the Foreign Service trace our heritage to the founding of our country and to Benjamin Franklin, whose work as our first diplomat in getting the French to side with us in our war for independence had as much to do with our winning our Revolutionary War as did our military struggle against the British.

But this year marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the modern Foreign Service, when the bill merging the diplomatic and consular corps was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge.

In honor of this anniversary, AFSA asked members of the Foreign Service to write in 100 works or less what made them most proud. You can read their stories here.

AFSA also put together this excellent video history of the Foreign Service.



You can also go here to learn about Constance Ray Harvey, who is featured in the video, and here to learn about the Foreign Service Officers who have died in the service of our country.

Even on my worst days, I am proud of the work we do.

Career diplomats: collateral damage from ‘nuclear option’

Al Kamen has a piece in "In The Loop" today about how the nuclear option is harming career diplomats on their way to Ambassador.

Until recently, it was also harming even newly minted Foreign Service Officers. In addition to all promotions, all tenures were on hold. 

Those holds were finally released. But these have not been. 

And now they are harming our relations with other countries, and that harms our national security.

"The career nominees at the Senate have waited about 250 days so far on average, even though they are nonpartisan and their hostage value is thus pretty close to nil. The only things damaged by this situation are the country’s national security, its economic well-being, it’s ability to get solid trade, food and energy deals and its capacity to spread U.S. human rights and other values.

Nine of those career folks stranded on the Senate floor are nominated to serve in mineral- and energy-rich Africa. It’s obviously hard to lead there (either from behind or from front) when trained diplomats aren’t in place. In contrast, does anyone think the Chinese are not fully staffed there, locking up deals for raw materials, oil, food and such? Yet one of five U.S. ambassadorial posts in Africa are empty."

Remind me again who Congress works for?

I hate this part

If you transfer during summer season, I highly recommend you try to leave in May.

Otherwise, you will be like us, among the last to leave. You just get to say goodbye over and over and over to people you care about. Granted, this is the Foreign Service, so you will likely see them again.

Even so, it sucks.

We had a few friends leave along the way...an unexpected curtailment, the transfer of some folks who arrived a year or more before us.

But now it has begun in earnest, with the people we have served with for the last three years departing.

And it sucks.

I've already said goodbye to some of these folks.
More will leave soon.
And in two months, so will I.
I hate this part

It actually started last month with the Departure of one friend, though his wife is still here through the end of the school year, so that one feels less real.

And then last week, one friend who I have served with for four years total, because we were at a previous post together, also left. That too feels a little unreal because I misjudged his flight date and didn't get to say goodbye.

Thank God for Facebook.

So today it really started to feel real. One of our good friends is flying out tomorrow. She and her husband and their impossibly cute baby came by the embassy to say goodbye.

I really hate this part.

This week, my deputy will leave, and she will be horribly missed. Let me tell you, having a deputy where you can confidently take vacation and know your section will be fine is worth her weight in gold. And she is. She was great when she got here, but I have watched her over two years develop into an exceptional officer.I'd serve with her again anywhere.

Next week, another good friend departs. And then another and another.

We have a great group of folks here...I am not happy to see any of them go. And I am REALLY unhappy about having to see ALL of them go.

Stupid summer transfer season.

New folks are coming. I am sure they are all great.

And the pouty me doesn't want to know any of them. Because my friends are leaving. And in two months, so will I.

I hate this part.

Welcoming the 173rd Airborne

The past couple of weeks have been fairly hellish.

We have had two CODELS, McCain and Bachmann. Plus, we have had two major conferences, the Lennart Meri Conference and the Freedom Online Coalition ministerial. Each conference brought high level visitors, including our Ambassadors to NATO and the OSCE and our A/S for Democracy, Rights and Labor. Plus, the Under Secretary for Management was here at the same time.

None, not one, of our visitors was the nightmare that visitors can sometimes be, but we are a small embassy and these visits involved lots of moving parts, lots of juggling. It has been exhausting.

Of course, a big part of the reason for all this is that with the crisis in Ukraine, suddenly everyone is interested in Estonia. Even my family members who thought when I got assigned here that Estonia was in Africa now know exactly where Estonia is.

So in addition to all the visitors, we also had lots of military stuff going on. Like the rotation of the Baltic Air Policing from us to the Danes, marking the first time that the Estonian air base will be used for that mission. Previously, all the flights have been done out of Lithuania.

And then there was this:



The 173rd Airborne sent a company to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. They arrived here on Monday. With the way Russia has been behaving, everyone is happy to see them!

I actually got the be there for this one. I am exhausted, but that was a "man, I love my job" kind of day!

On Trailing

I am going to come out and say it.

I HATE the term "trailing spouse."

It is offensive.

The Foreign Service is one of the last bastions in many cases of what we think of as a 50s marriage. Dad works, mom stays home.

Two things.

That never really existed, and "Mom" didn't "stay home. She worked her a$$ off.

The Foreign Service though, can make it difficult for the non-employee spouse to have a regular career (unless you are a tandem couple). So the non-employee, male or female, must try to get embassy jobs or try to have a portable career. It is hard, sometimes impossible.

I joined so I wouldn't be a "trailing spouse." Gave up a career I loved to be with my wife. I don't regret it. I love my job and my life.

Plus

"Trailing Spouse" is the hardest job in the service.

The Huffington Post has a nice piece on trailing spouses and how hard it is for non-employee expats (not specifically about the Foreign Service).

PNG Me

So apparently Robert Mugabe is threatening to expel from Zimbabwe any Western diplomat who promotes gay rights.

He said:

“We will never have that here and if there are any diplomats who will talk of any homosexuality, just tell me. We will kick them out of the country without any excuse. We won’t even listen.”

You know, we normally try NOT to get PNG'd (declared persona non grata and expelled from our host country) in this line of work.

But...

I would wear that PNG like a badge of honor!

Career diplomat discusses gay rights in foreign service

Al Kamen with the Washington Post had a nice piece in "In The Loop" on Richard Hoegland. Often, Kamen makes me cringe...he often has things to say about the State Department that are profoundly unflattering. Sometimes justified, sometimes not.

In my humble opinion.

Let's just say that when they tell us in A-100 to be careful what we say and do in public and to make sure it passes the Washington Post sniff test (would you want it in the Post), they mean would you want to see it in "In The Loop."

Ambassador Hoegland was one of the founding members of GLIFAA, Gays and Lesbians In Foreign Affairs Agencies. And he is one of the ones that made sure that people like me can do our jobs without worrying that we will lose our clearance over our sexual orientation.

The article says:

Hoagland recalled a time in the 1990s when his security clearance was taking a long time to be renewed, and he suspected it could have to do with concerns about him being gay. He went to the head of diplomatic security and threatened, “You have no reason to deny my security clearance. I want it on my desk in one week, or I’m going to The Washington Post.”

Ambassador Hoegland spoke Wednesday at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Pride Conference.

He said that he had his clearance one week after that fateful confrontation.

He also said that he wasn't there to rehash ancient history. He said:

Despite such advances made worldwide, much remains to be done to promote and protect the rights of LGBT persons. It is the duty of American diplomats to shape foreign policy to promote human rights for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, especially in the far reaches of those countries that prove most hostile towards them. We rely on our strong Department of State leadership to back these efforts, and ensure that our diplomatic corps prioritizes human rights for all.

It is certainly my priority.

Springtime Allergies

Spring is awesome...it starts warming up (I hate hate hate cold weather...love Estonia, but really winter sucks), birds start singing, flowers start blooming. And since I don't really suffer from allergies, there is just no downside to spring.

Except...

Two things are bad about spring.

Taxes, which I wrote about yesterday.

And this.

EERs.

For those not in the State Department, this means Employee Evaluation Report. It covers the period from April 16-April 15 and is due May 15. It is the time when you write about how you single handedly saved the world and your supervisor says that you are the most awesome officer ever (except for every other officer who is also the most awesome officer ever). Everyone walks on water in EERs. As I have said before, you not only have to walk on water while turning it into wine in order to stand out. 

The people who are best at it, and therefore more likely to get promoted, are the ones who are best at taking credit for everything and for general self-aggrandizement. Those who like to give credit to the team, who also tend to be the kind of folks who you would want to work with and for, tend not to be as good at it.

I hate EERs. I feel dirty writing them.

I would almost like to go back to the old way of doing them, which you can check out from the form below and the post I wrote about it four years ago:

From February 2010:

I wish I could take credit for finding this gem. Actually my wife found it (though really, if I can't take credit for what she does, whose efforts can I take credit for?!)

At any rate, it seems particularly timely given our (me and No Double Standard) recent discussion of EERs and the like. What my wife found was Form FS 316, the Performance Report for Foreign Service Officers, Revised June 1949 (and then according to a stamp on the page, again revised in June of 1958).

Now by Foreign Service Officers, the form means male FSOs...there are no feminine pronouns on the form.

Also missing from the form are the big blank boxes you have to fill in (there is only one for a summary and recommendations). Not even a "suicide box." No, instead, it is a bunch of multiple choice descriptors and the rater is to underline the one which is most descriptive of the officer and his job performance and to x out the letter of the one least descriptive.

So an example is:
A. He will probably not go much further in the service
B. He demands a high degree of efficiency from those associated with him
C. He is not active in seeking desirable contacts
D. He is imaginative
E. He is probably one of our future career ministers.

You get the idea. As I said, SHE is not an option. But at least I couldn't find the part where they graded an officer on his wife's ability to host social functions.

So with that in mind, I thought I'd share some of the funnier descriptors:

*He shows little taste in his clothes. (Maybe this is why Secretary Powell had to put out the memo saying no flip flops or sparkly tank tops)

*He is inclined to be pompous (I wonder if they consider this a good thing or a bad thing?)

*He is careless in his personal habits (this is the guy who got dust on his pants and the dust stayed there for the whole season...he wore them EVERY DAY).

* He becomes emotionally upset at times. (What, screaming is bad?)

* He gives little promise of development (And yet still gets promoted)

* He is a clock watcher in slack periods (How is this a bad thing?)

* He is petty in minor matters (and in major ones, he melts down completely)

* He is slow (How often have you asked how someone passed the FSOT?)

* He does not wear well as one knows him better (He seemed nice for the first 5 seconds I knew him)

* He bores intelligent people (this is my personal favorite)

* He has an exaggerated idea of his own importance. (I am pretty sure I worked with that guy).

* He has a tendency towards hair splitting (is this a comment on his appearance?)

* He is of limited intellectual attainments (no doubt the guy who bores intelligent people)

* His personal appearance is an asset (well thank god for that)

* He is overbearing (In the Foreign Service? Shocking!)

* He impresses you as not being fully alive to the problem you are discussing (or maybe just not fully alive?)

You know, as I read this through, maybe we should bring it back. Of course, there'd be tons of lawsuits ("You can't call me stupid! Everyone is special!"), but there'd also be some honesty in the EER. Really all you need to do is add a feminine pronoun.

Tax Day

Today is tax day.

For the first time, we were allowed to file as a married couple.

Partly, anyway.

We did of course have to pay the "marriage penalty." I am okay with that for equality, and for the ability to protect my family (even when she is singing "What Does The Fox Say?", which she is as I type this).

But the extra that I am not okay with paying?

Having to get an accountant to do our taxes because they are now too complicated for me to risk doing.

And they are too complicated because we file as married federally and in Maryland, where we are now residents (yay! Full citizenship!).

But in Virginia and South Carolina, where we own property, we must file as single, as strangers. As though I picked a random person to buy property with.

And in order to file as single, not only do we file two returns instead of one, but we also must do FAKE single federal forms in order to figure out what we owe as single people. Which, of course, we are not.

South Carolina and North Carolina have been running this awareness campaign called #Married364. As in, we are married every day of the year except tax day.

And as one of my best friends, who is also legally married, on that day, we are forced to lie.

Preparations

So the preparations have truly begun.

We have just three months left in Tallinn.

I have begun my list of what needs to be in the suitcase, the carry on, and the UAB.

Lists make me happy...and more relaxed.

But of all that we have to take home with us, what always concerns me most is the pets. This is why I started the process of getting the CITES permit for my bird several months ago (I have the Estonian one...still waiting for the U.S. permit).

Last week, I took my dog for her shots, and today it was the cats' turn.

Now they are all ready to go...they even have their passports!

"Lemmiklooma Pass" means Pet's Passport in Estonian.
I love that the word for pet, lemmikloom,
comes from lemmik (favorite) and loom (animal).

#UnitedForUkraine

Embassy Tallinn is #UnitedForUkraine

It Isn't Just Ambassadorial Appointees Who Are Waiting

You would think that with all that is going on in Ukraine and the need for diplomacy to help keep this from escalating to World War III that our Congress would prioritize, at least for a few minutes, the Foreign Service.

And you would be wrong.

I get it. I have ranted plenty about political appointee ambassadors and how there are too many of them and that some, especially recently, have been, shall we say, underwhelming in the qualifications department.

So I had considered blogging about the recent articles in the Washington Post about the backlog of ambassadorial appointments that are just sitting, waiting for Senate action. But I hadn't done it yet. Because I get it. They want to make a point about the sometimes profoundly unqualified donors selected to be ambassadors to important allies. But I also know they were sitting on career appointees too, who generally (but not always) do know about the countries to which they are headed. This leaves a lot of posts without an ambassador...some 28 ambassadorial vacancies in Central and South America, and 10 of 40 posts in Africa are also waiting. Most of these are not posts given to political appointees. Some of these folks have been waiting for nearly a year, (for the wait times, look here) and for the usually decidedly not wealthy career appointees (a career in government service in NOT a path to wealth unless you are serving in Congress), this means trying to find temporary jobs and housing while they wait. It is expensive for them, hard for posts, hard for the jobs they sit in waiting to leave, hard for our diplomatic relations with those countries....basically, hard for everyone but Congress.

So the post was coming...I just hadn't written it yet.

And then I get an email today from AFSA, the American Foreign Service Assocation, our "union" of sorts (they can bargain for us but we can't strike).

It seems that the Senate is not just sitting on ambassadorial appointments.

According to the email, the Senate is now holding up the commissioning, tenuring and promotions of some 1,700 folks in the Foreign Service. They do say that "progress has been made," but I don't read that as they have actually released the hold.

Come on now people.

We aren't talking about Ambassadors here. We are talking about the average Joes working in the Foreign Service. And for most of these, we are talking about the absolutely most junior diplomats. Commissioning usually happens short after you come on board and finish A-100. Tenuring usually happens within your first three to five years in the Service. It has to happen within five years or you are out (so if Congress holds up approving tenure for these officers too long, people who we want to keep will be forced out). So we aren't talking about folks who have been in a long time. Lots of these folks are sitting in visa mills, making sure people can come visit the U.S. (and spend their money here), making sure you can get home from overseas when your passport is stolen, making sure you are cared for in an overseas hospital or jail should bad things befall you on your trip. They are the lowest ranked, lowest paid of the exceptionally bright and motivated people we bring into the Foreign Service each year.

This seems like a good way to keep them from remaining motivated.

And the promotions? Those can range anywhere from those newly minted diplomats getting administrative promotions to senior Foreign Service. But let me assure you, the numbers of promotions at the upper level pale in comparison to those at the junior and mid-level. (ON EDIT: I was told the promotions are only Senior Foreign Service).

You are hurting solidly middle-class Americans who are deeply devoted to this country and want to serve it.

Stop it.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

From left; U.S. Ambassador to Australia John Berry, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Daniel Baer, U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford and U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James “Wally” Brewster. (Photo by Blake Bergen, courtesy of GLIFAA)

GLIFAA (Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies) recently met with the five current Ambassadors who are openly gay. The meeting was covered by the Washington Blade, so you can read about it here.

A friend forwarded me the piece and asked, "See anything wrong with this picture?"

I did immediately. Do you?

I'll give you a hint: I have complained about it before.

I am glad there are openly gay ambassadors. Truly I am.

But where is the diversity here?

Why is there not a single lesbian in the group? A single person of color? Hell, even a single career person (though I hear rumors that at least that couple change soon, though we will still not have a lesbian or person of color in the bunch)?

It is time.

Past time, really.

Welcome to the 176th A-100!

Look, I remembered! (Cut me some slack...getting old is hard!)

Tomorrow, the latest crop of diplomats,  the 176th A-100 class, will begin their journey at the Foreign Service Institute. I hope there will be bloggers among them!

I know at least on blogger, Lynne over at Like Nomads, but with more stuff, will be among them. Congrats on becoming a tandem Lynne!

If you know of any other bloggers in the class, let me know so I can give them a shout out.

And welcome to the Foreign Service y'all!

Ten Years

Ten years. Three thousand, six hundred and fifty two days.

I can't believe it has been ten years since I walked into the Foreign Service Institute for the first time, found my way to that classroom that was not nearly large enough for the nearly 100 of us us over eager, uber keen, bright eyed and enthusiastic new diplomats.

I remember how nervous we all were, many (most, all?) of us feeling out of place among such over achievers. Wondering if we belonged. Wondering if we'd make it. Wondering what that future, and the world, held for us.

Wondering if everyone else felt as uncomfortable as I did in a suit!

A lot has happened in that ten years.

At times it has flown. At times it has crawled.

There have been times I couldn't believe they paid me to do this job and times I didn't feel they paid me enough to do this job.

 There have certainly been plenty of times when I contemplated leaving the service. By my count, about five percent of my orientation class did just that.

But mostly, I feel glad to have found this career and privileged to serve the country this way (even when the country doesn't seem to appreciate that service). And I am glad to work for an organization that treated us like a tandem before it could say so legally, and treated us like an official tandem even before the so-called Defense of Marriage Act was overturned. And I am glad to work for an organization that now advocates for LGBT rights world wide. And they pay me to be a part of that.

Which is pretty cool.

So happy 10th anniversary to the 118th A-100! We have made it halfway!

At Your Service Around the World

The Washington Post had a nice piece this past week about embassies around the world helping American citizens.

It is a really nice piece and I recommend you read it. It talks a lot about the work our consular officers do helping Americans, from warning them of potential dangers to issuing them new passports or in some happy cases, birth certificates (Babies entitled to American citizenship who are born abroad receive a CRBA, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad).

The reporter actually spent some time observing a consular officer doing his job. It is important work that I think most Americans, particularly those in Congress, are unaware of. As one of my colleagues said in a comment on the article, if Congress spent a day observing what we do abroad for American citizens, they would probably be rushing to increase our staff and budget rather than axing it.

And speaking of doing the right thing....

Speaking of doing the right thing, let me introduce you to our Ambassador to Uganda, Scott DeLisi.

He recognizes that getting to come to the United States is a privilege, one you probably shouldn't get if you

So he said that some visas may be denied for those people.


In an interview with the BBC World Service, Ambassador DeLisi, responding to a question about articles published by the Red Pepper newspaper under the headline “Uganda’s Top 200 Homos Named,” said: “We as a government … are appalled by the course that the Red Pepper has chosen...What they do within their society I may not be able to control, but I can tell you they will not be welcome in the United States of America…. Visas can be denied for people who incite violence, people who propagate hate, who have used political violence. There are many bases on which we can deny a visa. And I can tell you that we will be examining all of these issues as we move forward.”

Bravo!

Secretary Kerry Calls Discrimination Against Global LGBT "An Affront to Every Reasonable Conscience"

We have been really fortunate lately with our Secretaries of State, particularly from an LGBT perspective.

Secretary Clinton was obviously a rock star and from day one, wanted to do what she could to make the lives of LGBT people around the world better. And she was willing to start at home, with her own diplomats. And let me tell you, life is better for the changes we made.

And then we got our current Secretary of State, John Kerry. Secretary Kerry was an ally when it wasn't cool to be an ally. He was one of the the few, and the only one up for re-election at the time, who voted against the now defunct so-called Defense of Marriage Act. That took guts.

What he is doing now takes guts too. We are seeing a lot of backlash against LGBT people as a result of the Supreme Court overturning parts of DOMA. A flurry of laws have been considered (and thankfully dispatched, if not for the right reasons) under the guise of defending religious freedom. (And if you  think your religious freedom is being interfered with by my right to marry, please read this.)

Abroad, worse things are happening. In Uganda, they have passed a law making it illegal for being gay. You can go to jail for life for the crime of who you are and who you love. You can also be thrown in jail for not reporting a family (so to the family member I unfriended on Facebook last night for his snarky comments about world response to this law, I guess you would happily turn me in and see me serve life in prison.)

So in light of this law, I am really happy to see that Secretary Kerry is responding to this and all of the laws targeting LGBT people by saying we are going to focus on combating discrimination against LGBT across the globe.

He gets it.

During a press conference on the release of our annual Human Rights Report, he said the law in Uganda and those in some 80 countries around the globe, from Nigeria to Russia to Iran, are "an affront to every reasonable conscience."

And then he said:

“You could change the focus of this legislation to black or Jewish, and you could be in 1930s Germany, or you could be in 1950s or ’60s apartheid South Africa,” Kerry said during a roundtable interview with reporters Wednesday. “It was wrong there, egregiously, in both places, and it is wrong here.”

Exactly.

And thank you.

Unsettled

There used to be a blog out there called "Six Months of Settled." The idea behind the title is that as Foreign Service Officers, between arriving at a post and getting past culture shock and really settling in until you are bidding again and then mentally moving on, you get to feel settled in a country for about six months.

It is fairly true, but I feel like I have gotten more than that out of Tallinn.

Living here is easy and pleasant. There is so little of what you need to live comfortably that you can't obtain really easily here that it makes it easy to just snuggle in quickly like I do with my flannel sheets (because it does get cold!).

I have loved my time here. I love my job, my staff, and this whole place. So I have postponed mentally moving on because I like it so much here. Through the bidding process and getting assigned to my onward post, I never checked out of Estonia.

And I am still not ready to leave, but as I approach my last five months in Tallinn, I admit I am beginning to feel unsettled. And it makes me sad.

On the Myers-Briggs scale, I am an ENTJ. And I think it is the J part that really REALLY likes to plan. I love lists. I love having a schedule. I love thinking about what I am doing next and organizing it in my head and on paper.

I have already started the process of getting my orders, already registered for training, already made plane reservations for us and the pets, already gotten a welcome cable from Kosovo. And while I have avoiding breaking out the pen and paper so far, in my head, I am already making lists.

What do I need to remember to put in my suitcase? Should I start packing it now (NO!)

What should I put in my UAB?  Should I set it aside in one of the rooms we seldom use (again, NO!).

Maybe I should just start my inventory. (Okay, maybe).

I am even making lists of things I want to do to our new place in Maryland and things I will want to put into our consumables shipment to Kosovo (dog food, cat food, bird food...and diet Mt. Dew).

One list I should make, but won't, is places I should visit before I leave.

I figure, if I miss something I wanted to see, I will just have to come back.

And I will want to come back. Because I don't want to leave.

Feds to expand legal benefits, services for same-sex marriages

Some more good news out of DC. The Department of Justice has decided to expand recognition of same-sex marriages in the areas of federal legal matters, even if the couple does not reside in a marriage equality state.

This means that a person can visit his or her same-sex spouse in prison and the couple can file jointly for federal bankruptcy. It also means that just like with heterosexual couples, a same-sex spouse can not be compelled to testify against his or her spouse. There is already one case I know of where a woman was threatened with jail for not testifying against her wife.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "Just like during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the stakes involved in this generation's struggle for LGBT equality could not be higher...As attorney general, I will not let this Department be simply a bystander during this important moment in history."

You can read more here and here.

Just Getting Back...

I just got in last night from R&R (yay! Folly Beach!), so I owe you a few posts, some about the trip but mostly catching up on things I missed posting about.

I'll backdate them so that they appear in chronological order. 

State of the Union Address

Last night's State of the Union Address was phenomenal, particularly in terms of the shout-outs for diplomacy and diplomats.

Like this one:

"And I know this chamber agrees that few Americans give more to their country than our diplomats and the men and women of the United States armed forces. (Extended applause.) Thank you.

Tonight, because of the extraordinary troops and civilians who risk and lay down their lives to keep us free, the United States is more secure."

And this:

You see, in a world of complex threats, our security, our leadership depends on all elements of our power -- including strong and principled diplomacy. American diplomacy has rallied more than 50 countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance on Cold War stockpiles.

American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria's chemical weapons are being eliminated. (Applause.) And we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve -- a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear.

As we speak, American diplomacy is supporting Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in the difficult but necessary talks to end the conflict there; to achieve dignity and an independent state for Palestinians, and lasting peace and security for the state of Israel -- a Jewish state that knows America will always be at their side. (Applause.)

And it is American diplomacy, backed by pressure, that has halted the progress of Iran's nuclear program -- and rolled back parts of that program -- for the very first time in a decade. As we gather here tonight, Iran has begun to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium.

It's not installing advanced centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the world verify every day that Iran is not building a bomb. And with our allies and partners, we're engaged in negotiations to see if we can peacefully achieve a goal we all share: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. (Applause.)

These negotiations will be difficult; they may not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran's support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies; and we're clear about the mistrust between our nations, mistrust that cannot be wished away. But these negotiations don't rely on trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be based on verifiable action that convinces us and the international community that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today. (Applause.)

The sanctions that we put in place helped make this opportunity possible. But let me be clear: if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it. (Applause.) For the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed.

You can read the entire speech here.

State Department Reply to the Washington Diplomat

Director of the Office of Recruitment, Examination and Employment at the Department of State Kaara Ettesvold penned a reply to the article in the Washington Diplomat about the hiring slowdown at State.

She did note one error in the article:

"I would note that the article indicated that candidates who convert to the Foreign Service from the Civil Service (via the Mustang Program) or from Foreign Service Specialist positions are able to enter non-competitively. In fact, those who apply for these conversion programs also pass through a QEP process and sit for the same oral assessment that others face. These programs, which allow conversion candidates who pass the oral assessment to join the next entry class of Foreign Service employees, provide career mobility opportunities to Department employees in recognition of their skills and past service.

It is important to recognize the dedication of the thousands who pursue a candidacy for the Foreign Service. Many government agencies and private corporations consider the Department of State’s assessment process as the “gold standard” for competitive hiring, but, like any assessment process, it is certainly not perfect. We constantly evaluate and revise our process to make sure it continues to meet the needs of the Department as well as give opportunities to the broadest segment of U.S. citizens. Those of us who interact with candidates -- from recruiters and Diplomats in Residence (DIRs), to officers conducting the QEP and oral assessment -- are constantly impressed by the talent, creativity, dedication and perseverance of our candidates. Via our www.careers.state.gov website, we offer various ways to engage with candidates, from contact with the DIRs to a real-time exchange of information on the Forums."

You can read the entire letter here.

Hiring Slowdown at State Leaves Candidates in Limbo

The Washington Diplomat has an interesting piece today about the hiring slowdown at the Department of State and the effects on candidates for the Foreign Service.

According to the article, "According to figures posted on a State Department message board, the hiring decreases have been substantial: In the 2013 fiscal year that just ended, the State Department hired 291 Foreign Service generalists, down 47 percent from the year prior and 150 percent from 2010. Hiring among Foreign Service specialists — who focus on administrative, management and technical matters at embassies abroad — has also fallen, dropping from 502 in 2010 to 299 in 2013.

In a February 2013 letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Secretary of State John Kerry warned about the impact of the cuts on American diplomacy, which seems to be making a comeback of sorts with the recent Iranian nuclear breakthrough. “Cuts of this magnitude would seriously impair our ability to execute our vital missions of national security, diplomacy and development,” he wrote. "

You can read the entire piece here.

Welcome to the 175th A-100

I have gotten really slack.

I haven't welcomed in the newest A-100 in, well, forever.

I had even lost count. I had to go back to the A-100 yahoo group to figure it out.

And I have no idea who the new bloggers are.

So if you are out there and want to be added to my blogroll, let me know.

And if you are joining the Foreign Service in the 175th A-100 class (the 166th, 168th, 169th, 171st, 172nd, 173rd, or 174th or any other ones I missed),

WELCOME!

I do want to welcome any bloggers from those classes, including:

173rd

Cupcake Diplomacy (longtime female FSO blogger now featuring tandem issues!) 

EDIT: I heard from another 175th blogger, Of Elephants and Castles. The blog is written by a female FSO and her male EFM. Make sure to check it out!

And welcome!

Ch-ch-changes!

Head Uut Aastat Eestist! Happy 2014!

I know many friends who are happy to kick 2013 out the door. For them, I am glad the year is done and they wake today with all the possibilities of a new year and a new (better) start.

For me, 2013 was pretty good. I am the first to admit how blessed I am. I am thankful every day for a job that I love (most days) and that is secure and reasonably well paid (except when Congress shuts down the government). I have a wonderful wife who loves me and beautiful fur and feathered children.

And 2013 brought us the thing I barely dared to hope for: federal recognition of our marriage (and a doubling of the states with marriage equality).

Yes, I think when it is all added up, 2013 was a good year.

And I am an optimist. I believe 2014 will be a good year too.

For us, because we are Foreign Service Officers, it will bring the changes that are routine and yet never routine in our profession. The view from next January 1 will be different from this year's.

Different because with the arrival of January comes the inevitable countdown. Only 6 months left in Estonia. Six months until we pack up all our things once again and say goodbye to the friends we have made here...friends I hope to keep forever.

By the time we celebrate the arrival of 2015, we will have completed our tours here. We will have headed back to the U.S., had home leave (hopefully in the mountains of Tennessee), and traded in our suits for blue jeans and polos and started language training. We will have transitioned from diplomats to bureaucrats, as we all do when we go back to DC, and will be half way through preparation to transition back to diplomats again in Kosovo.

We will have hopefully settled into our new home, the one we have at this point not set foot in, and will hopefully have received all of our belongings from Estonia and storage. Our dog will hopefully have learned how awesome it is to have a yard again (after 10 years without) and our cats will have experienced the joys of a screened porch (because they are not allowed outside, ever. Did you know the life expectancy for a completely indoor cat is nearly triple that of an indoor/outdoor cat?). We will have been able to switch to running (for my wife) and biking (for me...stupid knees) outdoors on a local trail rather than indoors as we are forced by snow to do for much of the year here.

I don't make New year's resolutions anymore (I am profoundly bad at it and so I made a resolution one year to make no more resolutions...that has been one of the only ones I have managed to keep!) I don't even really set goals for the year, because I have proven sort of bad at that too.

But I do have hopes for the year, most of which I can have little impact on other to the degree that praying helps. I hope my family is safe, happy and healthy in the New Year. I hope to see them more when we are stateside. I hope to do well in language, or to at least have fun at it.

But my big hope for 2014 is more of 2013 in the march to equality. I hope more and more states choose to join the right side of history, especially some in my beloved south (I am looking at you South Carolina...I said I was an optimist, right?).

Here's wishing you the most amazing 2014 ever. Head Uut Aastat!

Merry Christmas From Tallinn

I can't believe we are spending our last Christmas in Tallinn (and that I have still not managed to get a white Christmas out of this tour, since last year we were gone at Christmas and that is the only one of the three with snow!).

I will be sad to leave Estonia in about 7 months. This place is amazing, and I will always love it here.

And as much as I missed my family this year, I am glad to have spent Christmas with some of the amazing folks we have met here.

Christmas Eve was spent at one friend's house, with I think everyone from the embassy who is in town showing up at least for a bit.

And then yesterday, after a pancake breakfast courtesy of my awesome wife and lots of fun unwrapping the presents with the pets (seriously, the dog "helped" me unwrap my "Dog Shaming" calendar...how perfect is that!), we went and had dinner at another friend's house, together with her husband and four kids, another friend, her husband and child, and one more friend. It looked A LOT like Christmases with my big Catholic family!

Which made me a little more and a little less homesick.

The amazing thing about the Foreign Service is that while you don't lose your family of origin, you can a new, wonderful, large family of fellow Foreign Service folks. And we really come together as a family when we can't be home with our family of origin.

It is moments like these that I am certain keep me in the Foreign Service even when I would rather be home.

So Merry Christmas to you, my friends, family and Foreign Service family, where ever you are, from me, my wife and the pets.And may you have the most blessed of New Years.

Kralev: Once Expelled, Gay Diplomat thrives in Foreign Service

Apparently I missed this last month.

Nicholas Kralev, who wrote America's Other Army: the U.S. Foreign Service and 21st Century Diplomacy, did an interview last week with Jan Krc, a diplomat who was expelled from the Foreign Service in 1983 for being gay and successfully fought to come back.He was able to rejoin in 1993 and is not the Public Affairs Officer at our embassy in Vienna (man would I love THAT job!).

You can watch the interview here.

Quite a Year

A wedding happened yesterday.

Such a wonderful, ordinary thing.

Except that it was two men getting married. Legally. In Utah.

Yesterday I shared this picture on Facebook, courtesy of Freedom to Marry.

It really illustrates what an extraordinary year this has been for marriage equality.

In one year, eight states (EIGHT!) have been added to the number of states with marriage equality. LGBT people can now legally marry in seventeen states. And more importantly, the Supreme Court on June 26 overturned a key portion of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, meaning marriages in those states are legal in the eyes of the federal government. Meaning my marriage was legal federally and my friends who had married non-Americans could apply for their spouses to become American. And some of them are already in the process of doing so. Deportations of legal spouses stopped. And my friends serving this country could plan to come home when they retire, home to the country they love with the spouse they love.

And now, a majority of Americans support the right of gays and lesbians to marry.

Quite a year indeed.

And then I woke this morning to discover that the picture I shared last night was wrong.

Because last night, Utah's constitutional ban on same-sex marriages was found by the court to violate the U.S. Constitution. 

(Which is huge, because it could ultimately result in the overturning of all of the constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. According the to article:

"[Judge] Shelby writes the issue of same-sex marriage is “politically charged in the current climate” and more so because the current law is in place as a result of referendum. However, Shelby rules that even a vote of the people can’t defy the U.S. Constitution.

“It is only under exceptional circumstances that a court interferes with such action,” Shelby writes. “But the legal issues presented in this lawsuit do not depend on whether Utah’s laws were the result of its legislature or a referendum, or whether the laws passed by the widest or smallest of margins. The question presented here depends instead on the Constitution itself, and on the interpretation of that document contained in binding precedent from the Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

The judge concludes by drawing on the 1966 case of Loving v. Virginia, which struck down state bans on interracial marriage throughout the country, saying the defense in favor of these bans 50 years ago is the same the state provided for Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage.

“For the reasons discussed above, the court finds these arguments as unpersuasive as the Supreme Court found them fifty years ago,” Shelby writes. “Anti-miscegenation laws in Virginia and elsewhere were designed to, and did, deprive a targeted minority of the full measure of human dignity and liberty by denying them the freedom to marry the partner of their choice. Utah’s Amendment 3 achieves the same result.”")

And that court ruled there would be no stay, and LGBT people could marry immediately.

And one hour later, two men were married in Utah.

A simple, ordinary, beautiful, wonderful thing. In Utah.

The 18th state!

Once again, love wins.

Post DOMA update

There have been a couple of articles that I wanted to share with you about how we are chipping away at inequality.

The first is from the Social Security Administration, which according to an article in the Washington Blade, is now processing claims for death benefits for legally married same-sex spouses.

IF

...they are in a marriage equality state. Those not in a marriage equality state are having their applications put on hold.

You might remember some months ago they announced that they would process retirement benefits for legally-married same-sex spouses. This moves that process along to include death benefits.

Of course, in the land where separate is not equal, those in civil unions or domestic partnerships need not apply.

Second is an article this week in Huffington Post on what the DOMA ruling means for legally-married same-sex couples.

There are lots of ways where this ruling will save folks money. And couples are allowed to re-file for their returns from the last three years if that will result in a higher refund for them.

I don't think it will make much difference for us since we earn very similar salaries. But man do I wish that option had been around when I was still in grad school and my wife was working!

What it does mean for us though is that my days of doing our taxes are done. With property in three states, two of which don't have marriage equality, so having to file jointly for federal and one state and separately for the other...it makes my head hurt thinking about it.

And finally, I just wanted to share with you a link from Time magazine. They nominated Edith Windsor as a runner-up for their person of the year. I personally think she should have won. Her case, which resulted in DOMA being struck down, has certainly affected my life personally in many profound ways. 

Take time to watch both videos. 

They are beautiful. 

Love won.

Please support the Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act

You might remember a post I did a while back about Mustafa Akarsu.

He is the member of the local guard force in Ankara who was killed by a terrorist in February who was trying to blow up our embassy there. Many many lives were saved because of his bravery.

The Huffington Post wrote this of him:

"Men like Mustafa Akarsu, who are at work at any given hour of the day at over 250 embassies and consulates around the world, are much more than faceless figures in uniform standing inside guard booths. Their dedicated efforts enable American diplomats to operate freely and unencumbered by threat. They know that at any time they can bear the brunt of a terrorist strike against the embassy. The fact that the only people killed that fateful afternoon in Ankara was the bomber and Mustafa Akarsu was a testament to the training and courage that these guards display on a daily basis. Akarsu made the ultimate sacrifice so that the men and women he swore to protect would be safe from harm.

Mustafa Akarsu had grown to love the country whose distant outpost he protected. He felt a unique sense of pride working for the United States of America, and playing a role in its defense overseas. And, this always-smiling member of the local guard force at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara wanted his children to live the American dream. Before his death he had applied for a Special Immigrant Visa; the SIV is reserved only for those who have dedicated many years of service for the U.S. government. Akarsu's hope was to become an American citizen and he dreamed of sending his children to university in the United States. Because he was killed before his SIV could be issued, the status of that request -- the fulfillment of his dream -- is now up to the State Department and special political consideration."

The current policy is that any local employee who has worked for the U.S. Government for 15 years or more is eligible to become a U.S. citizen with his family. With 22 years of service, Mustafa was already eligible for the SIV, and in fact was in the process of finishing his application when he was killed defending Americans. He was killed on the brink of realizing his dream of becoming an American.

On April 26, 2013, Rep. McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] also introduced the Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act. According to DiploPundit, the bill currently has 18 cosponsors. In June, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

The gist of the bill is this: The Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act "amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide special immigrant status for the surviving spouse or child of a U.S. government employee killed abroad in the line of duty, provided that: (1) the employee had performed faithful service for at least 15 years; and (2) the principal officer of a Foreign Service establishment (or, in the case of the American Institute of Taiwan, the Director) recommends, and the Secretary of State approves, the granting of such status. States that this Act shall be effective beginning on January 31, 2013, and shall have retroactive effect."

This bill is fundamentally and foremost about fairness. It is about honoring the lives and dreams of those who died for us. Please take a moment to contact your representatives and express your support for this bill, because believe it or not, there are those who are opposed to it.

Please do it today. It is the right thing to do.

A Day in the Life of a Foreign Service Officer – Digger Diplomat

I did a short interview for International Relations Online on what it is like to be a Foreign Service Officer.

My favorite question they asked was:

Name three traits every successful Foreign Service Officer should have:

I said:

* flexibility (because the answer to most questions in the Foreign Service is “it depends”)
* reliability (the work we do matters, and if you don’t do it, it will fall on someone else),
*a good sense of humor (because a lot of what we do is stressful, and we get through it together by not taking ourselves too seriously).

You can find the full interview here.

Susan Rice: LGBT rights an essential part of U.S. foreign policy

It was not so long ago that our country was unwilling to sign on to demands that LGBT persecution end world wide.

It made me really proud to be serving when then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Geneva that "Gay Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Gay Rights," adding that "people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens. This is not unlike the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation. Some people still defend those practices as part of a cultural tradition. But violence toward women isn’t cultural; it’s criminal. Likewise with slavery, what was once justified as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled as an unconscionable violation of human rights.In each of these cases, we came to learn that no practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us. And this holds true for inflicting violence on LGBT people, criminalizing their status or behavior, expelling them from their families and communities, or tacitly or explicitly accepting their killing."

And that support for LGBT people worldwide has continued even after Secretary Clinton left, as is evidenced by the speech given yesterday by National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

“The United States remains firmly committed to promoting freedom, opportunity and prosperity everywhere,” Ambassador Rice said during a speech at the Newseum in downtown Washington, DC during Human Rights First’s annual Human Rights Summit on Wednesday. “We stand proudly for the rights of women, the LGBT community and minorities.”

“No one should face discrimination because of who they are or whom they love,” she said. “We’re working to lead internationally as we have domestically on LGBT issues.”

Rice noted the Obama administration supports “full equality” for LGBT Americans that includes the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” She also cited slain San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk and the late-former New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug, who introduced the first federal gay rights bill in 1975, as among the “champions who fought to bring us closer to ideals” outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that members of the U.N. General Assembly approved 65 years ago this month.

“Continuing their work at home and expanding it around the globe is our great commission as inheritors of their legacy,” Rice said.

You can read a nice piece about her speech here in the Washington Blade.

Look! Evidence of the Administration's "War on Christianity"!

Or not.

There has been a good bit of nonsense floating around that we are closing our embassy to Vatican City. It has even been repeated by some in Congress who really ought to know better.

Yes, we are moving the building (which is not the same thing as closing...). Yes, it will be located on the compound with the U.S. Embassy to Italy. Just like our embassy to UN agencies in Rome is already located on the same compound.

The main reason for the move is security. There are many cities where we have more than one embassy. Rome is one. Vienna is another. I could name others. The independent Benghazi Accountability Review Board renewed calls for all missions located within one municipal area to be moved into the same compound. That is what is happening here.

And our embassy to Vatican City was not located in Vatican City (no room), but like the embassies of other countries to Vatican City, it was located in Rome. And the new embassy will actually be a tenth of a mile CLOSER to Vatican City.

And you know what else? The building is 78% bigger than the current building. AND, it is a lot nicer.

Old building on the left, new on the right.
Photo courtesy of blogs.state.gov

If you want to know more, I recommend you click here for "Just the Facts."

Fine Whine

My apologies for my absence...I was in London for two weeks having surgery on my knees and blogging by iPad is...challenging.

Also challenging, having surgery on both of your knees.

One of the less fun parts of being in the Foreign Service can be receiving any kind of medical care. Unlike in the States, where if you have decent insurance you can get your medical issue dealt with fairly quickly, when you are overseas, it can take a while. So my surgery on the 14th was the culmination of months of pain, a useless visit with the Regional Medical Officer, a torn meniscus (actually torn in two places and cracked in a third), another couple weeks of pain, an appointment with an Estonian orthopedist (and a demonstration of how bad my Estonian medical vocabulary is), and then two and a half more weeks of waiting until we could get me to London for surgery.

Of course, once I got to London, the care was as good as any in the States. Maybe even better. The UK has socialized health care paid for by people's taxes. But on top of that, they have a private health care system that you can use if you have private insurance. We use the private system because we obviously don't pay taxes to the UK. And it was excellent.

I had an appointment the day after I arrived with a private doctor, and he then scheduled an MRI for a couple hours later. He recommended surgery on both knees, so we went to the embassy, who handled everything. They have an excellent medical unit that handled around 500 medical evacuations (medevacs) per year and they have it down to clockwork. We filled out all the forms, and because I was in the hospital overnight, the Department pays for everything and I reimburse them once I get reimbursed by my insurance.

Two days later, I was checked into the Princess Grace, a private hospital in London not far from the hotel where I stayed, also booked for me by the embassy. The hospital was great. You walk into a tidy waiting room, give them your name, and they come within five or so minutes to check you into your private room. Which includes a wine list. No, not kidding.

Told you I wasn't kidding

The room also had menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner (with a selection, including things like roasted pheasant that was actually awesome!), movies on demand (for free), and free wifi. An hour or so later, they came and got me, wheeled me into surgery and a split second later (okay a couple hours, but I was out, so it seemed like a split second), I was done. And I was on my feet by that evening.

Had all of this been done at home, or more quickly that how long it took here, I couldn't possibly have any complaints. But let me tell you that getting all that done is HARD when you are not at home. Even in England, which shares (sort of) our native language, it is still challenging. You aren't in your own environment. You don't know how best to get from place to place. You have to do things like get into cabs that are taller than most cars and the stepping into which causes your muscle to tear just a bit in your newly operated on knee (which then causes you to spend said cab ride curled up into a ball on the cab floor).

And you don't know when or whether you can return to work. Our job requires a medical clearance in addition to a security clearance. A class 1 clearance means you can work anywhere in the world. You have to have that to join the Foreign Service (because it wouldn't be fair to those already in the service to hire someone who could only serve in western Europe. We all have to do our time in hardship posts). When you go on medevac, your Class 1 clearance is suspended. And you can't return to post until it is restored. Now luckily, the medical unit at the embassy can do all the paperwork to restore your clearance if the doctor clears you, but the doctor's clearance is by no means assured. And if he does clear you, and you do go back to post, you can not go on medevac again from that post for that issue.

So if my knees for whatever reason don't heal, I am screwed. My only option would be to curtail from post (leave for good) and go back to DC. And hope there is a position for me there.

That is added stress on top of an already stressful situation.

The good news is I got my clearance back and I am home. The bad news is my knees are jacked and I will likely need replacements in the not too distance future. Other than repairing the meniscus, most of this was all as a stop gap to give me pain relief until I get them replaced in a year or so (hopefully much more than a year, but the cold, damp weather in Estonia makes them hurt so that I am not overly optimistic).

Also not especially fun to think about...metal knees in a career that has you going through airport security A LOT.

Hello, strip searches!

Transgender Day of Remembrance

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY KERRY

Transgender Day of Remembrance

The State Department joins people around the world in marking Transgender Day of Remembrance, honoring the memory of lives lost to violence provoked by fear and hatred of transgender and gender non-conforming people.

We have made tremendous progress in advancing the rights of LGBT persons. But when people continue to be harassed, arrested and even killed simply because of who they are and who they love, we know that we still have hard work before us.

The sad truth is that in too many places, including the United States, transgender persons continue to face violence and discrimination on a daily basis.

In too many cases, crimes against LGBT persons, including murder, are not thoroughly investigated or prosecuted. Transgender persons are frequently denied medical care and public services. They still suffer discrimination in employment, education, and housing. Each of these episodes threatens our common humanity. Together, we pay a price when rights are trampled. And, together, we win when rights are protected.

That is why we are engaging diplomatically to address the specific challenges faced by transgender persons. And that’s why we will continue to urge other governments to protect all of their citizens regardless of their gender identity. Through the Global Equality Fund, we are increasing support to civil society organizations to combat bias-motivated violence targeting transgender persons.

The rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons are not special or separate or different. They are basic human rights. And human rights are universal, not negotiable.

On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we renew our commitment to ensuring that all persons are able to live safely, freely and with dignity, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

And The Winner Is....

We got our number 1! I will be the next PAO in Pristina, Kosovo and my wife will be the Deputy Pol/Econ chief! We are thrilled!

See you in DC in July for language!

I Won't (Air) Kiss and Tell

I have been fairly quiet about bidding recently, at least here.

But the truth is, we have gotten an air kiss.

For those not in the service, a handshake is what you get when you are formally offered an assignment. Handshakes can go out beginning Monday.

But sometimes (not always), posts and the bureau let you know ahead of time that you are who they want.

Remember passing notes in class? "I like you. Do you like me? Check Yes or No."

It is a lot like that.

Except it does more like "You are post's (or the Bureau's) leading candidate for position x. Can you tell us where we stand for you and whether you would accept a handshake if offered."

We call this (unofficially) an air kiss.

This air kiss is of course, only after you have offered to sell your soul AND your first born to get this, or any, job. After you have told them how much you love them and would do anything to come work there. Sometimes though, you have have said that to several places (I opt for the honesty is the best policy route, but some don't. Everyone is their number 1).

So anyway, my wife and I got air kisses both from post and from the bureau.

And we told them we would accept the jobs if offered.

But I can't air kiss and tell (okay, we did tell a few folks...), so stay tuned until Monday.

Not The Bees Knees

I wrote a long post a week ago or so about what has been going on lately. About how one of the things that sucks about being in the Foreign Service was occasionally the medical care.

But it sounded too whiny, so I could never bring myself to post it.

Suffice it to say, I have been lucky not to need medical treatment while overseas until now.

Estonia has good medical care, but often the medical care providers don't speak English all that well and my Estonian is lacking in medical vocabulary.

So I am going to London in a couple weeks (and probably for a couple weeks) to have surgery on my knees. And getting me to this point has involved months of pain, a visit with the Regional Medical Officer (who said I needed to stretch and that it was just age), an appointment finally with an Estonian orthopedist (that took three weeks to get) and a torn meniscus in the interim.

If I had been stateside, especially since I have good insurance, this would have been taken care of months ago.

But I chose instead to serve the country, a country that freezes my pay, calls me a parasite, and recently threatened not to pay me at all.

Dang...getting cranky again.

Let's blame the pain.