The Foreign Service Journal, January 2006

father had to fight to have us bused to French schools off base. In those days, if one spoke French and an Anglophone entered the room, one switched to English. When my father was transferred to a base in Ontario in the late 1960s, I had no choice but go to an English-speaking high school where I struggled with the language. In 1982, I moved to San Francisco, thinking no one there would care that I was a French-Canadian with a weird accent. I was right. However, in real- ity, I only exchanged one type of dis- crimination for another, for in the mid-1980s, I finally came to terms with my sexuality. That was a difficult process, even in San Francisco, where I was living during the height of the AIDS scourge. In 1991, I became a U.S. citizen and went to work for the U.S. Department of Justice. Before accepting the job, I told my boss I was gay and asked if that would be an issue. He assured me it would not, and within one year I was pro- moted to GS-14. On Sept. 20, 2002, I received my security clearance and joined the Foreign Service two days later. My sexuality was never an issue. My Canadian citizenship, on the other hand, almost cost me my clearance, until I made the difficult decision to renounce it. My parents were dev- astated, but I felt strongly about working for the Foreign Service and made the sacrifice. In March 2003, I went to Yemen. In September 2004, my partner, Richard Fitzsimmons, joined me at post. Within two weeks, he was run- ning the commissary and in January 2005 went to work for USAID. In his article, the DG praises diver- sity saying, “We want the State Department to look like America.” Let me say that we are a long way from making this happen as far as the gay and lesbian community is con- cerned. In December 2004, Richard and I were married in Methuen, Mass. But we received no help from HR when I tried to have him added to my orders, even after submitting a copy of our marriage certificate. In July 2005, I contacted AFSA about our predicament. One option dis- cussed was the creation of another class of Eligible Family Member along the lines of “separate but equal,” without financial benefits. In the meantime, Richard came to Rabat, at our expense, this past July as my “domestic” (which was insulting). He has been denied access to the health unit and every time he has applied for a job at post in competition with other spouses, he has been disqualified because, according to the regulations, he is a Member of Household, although legally he is my spouse. He has tried to obtain outside employment with no success. As a result, I have requested curtailment based on financial hardship. Because Rabat has only a 15-percent cost-of-living- adjustment, Richard and I cannot survive on my salary alone, given the lack of financial support from State. Having experienced discrimina- tion based on ethnicity and sexuality throughout my life, I cannot wait for the day when the Department of State treats all of its employees equally. Too often State hides behind regulations, yet there always seems to be a way around them “for the needs of the Service.” I am reminded of the regulations in place in the 1950s prohibiting blacks from sitting at the front of the bus. That did not stop the late Rosa Parks! There is growing pressure in many states allowing same-sex couples to wed. What then? Since writing this letter, I have learned that my appeal to curtail was denied by the DG. The basic mes- sage was that I should have done my homework about Rabat. The prob- lem with such a response is that, as AFSA has confirmed, there is no even treatment of MOHs from one post to another. Christian Charette Financial Management Officer Embassy Rabat Marriage in the Old Days I read with interest Susan Ann Clyde’s letter in the October issue regarding women FSOs who mar- ried “in the old days.” I know of one instance from around 1960 when our consular officer in New Delhi, Anne Meriam (I could be misspelling her last name), married yet was allowed to remain in the Foreign Service. Several of us at the time were happi- ly astonished by the department’s “open-mindedness.” When the cou- ple married, the husband had just retired as an officer in the Indian Army and intended to become a writer as an accompanying spouse. As I recall, Anne served at one or two more posts before she retired. Ralph H. Graner FSO, retired Richmond, Va. Supporting the World I found the September article, “Embassy Design: Security vs. Openness,” very interesting. Prior to my retirement in 1994, I was an Area Management Officer in the then- Foreign Buildings Operation Office. I thoroughly enjoyed my three-year 8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R S u