The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

Foreign Service in microcosm — a place where one is nominally welcome, but where the good stuff is unavailable. The issue arises most urgently around the Security Overseas Seminar. That’s not surprising, given the precarious security environment these days. Incoming FS personnel are required to take the SOS, and EFMs are strongly encouraged to do so, says Pat Schofield, coordinator of the Training Division at FSI’s Transition Center. MOHs, however, are not permitted to take the class. As FSO Charles “Andy” Ball notes via e-mail, “Gay partners are now relegated to watching the class on videotape even though there may be empty seats at the seminar itself. Actual attendance and active par- ticipation are what is required to ensure the seminar’s M E M B E R S O F H O U S E H O L D J U N E 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 19 We recently adopted a stray kitten we found on a street in Manila. Our kitten’s travel expenses to future postings will be covered by the State Department. Augie, my domestic partner of 10 years, however, has to pay for his own travel. That’s just one way even the full imple- mentation of the Member of Household policy fails to end the disparate and unequal treatment of gays and lesbians in the Foreign Service. However, we would rather have MOH than not, and when it is implemented it improves our lives and livelihoods immensely, as we have discov- ered at Embassy Manila. A major failure in the implementation of the MOH pol- icy is in the area of security. Augie would be left to his own devices in the case of an ordered evacuation. We would be forced to choose whether he remained in a potentially dangerous environment or arranged and paid for his own evacuation. In a time of increased terrorism and heightened global security threats, the Department should allow the Foreign Service Institute to implement the recommendations of its own Security Overseas Seminar. One of the seminar instructors stressed the critical importance of learning the local language. However, FSI does not allow domestic partners to take language classes at all. When we tried to register Augie for Tagalog class, the Registrar’s Office curtly dismissed us, and our questions about the MOH policy. Gays and lesbians, welcome to the State Department, where your security is your problem. The department also took a step backward when FSI discontinued the policy of allowing gay partners to attend the Security Overseas Seminar. (Actually, Augie is barred from attending most classes at FSI otherwise available to spouses.) Gay partners are now relegated to watching the class on videotape even though there may be empty seats at the seminar itself. Actual attendance and active participation are what is required to ensure the seminar’s lessons are committed to memory and put into practice. If there is no difference between watching the seminar on video and actual attendance, then everyone should just watch the videotape. The bright spot in our experience with the department has been in Manila where the implementation of the MOH policy has exceeded our expectations. Thanks to the ambassador, DCM, RSO, consul general, FSNs and even the front-gate guards, we have been integrated into the community. Augie is treated as an Eligible Family Member in nearly every respect. He has access to the embassy grounds, has check- cashing privileges, is invited to all CLO events and, very importantly, is eligible to work at the embassy. This last point is crucial given that Augie does not have a diplomatic pass- port or diplomatic protections or privileges, and it is never guaranteed he will be allowed to work in the local economy or even reside with me from post to post. Our primary concern in bidding for posts is the extent to which a post implements the MOH policy. Since Augie receives no direct financial benefits, unlike our kitten, the MOH policy is our best hope for him to have a job. Pouch and mail privileges, the ability to purchase health insur- ance at government rates, and access to the medical unit, especially in the Third World, are vital lifelines as well. We can only hope that our next posting will be as posi- tive an experience as Manila. Andy Ball (FSO) and Augie Paculdar (MOH) Embassy Manila My Cat Gets More Benefits Than My Domestic Partner