The Foreign Service Journal, June 2015

24 JUNE 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL quieter approach to ensure we’re making sustainable progress, and doing so within a broad range of partnerships. SD: In terms of LGBT issues, how has the culture of the State Department changed over time? RB: I think there has been tremendous evolution, but I have also always found leadership and colleagues within the depart- ment to be committed to fairness, open-mindedness and equality. I believe the department mirrors the much broader evolution on equality and treatment of the LGBT community that has occurred in the country during recent years. SD: What is different today compared to when you came into the Service in the early 1990s ? RB: I entered the Foreign Service just after the policy under which FSOs could lose their security clearances due to sexual orientation effectively ended. That had meant basically losing your job if you came out. So much has changed since then. But I think it’s important to note that change came about due to a sense of fairness from department leadership, and also through FSOs engaging and working with allies to ensure change. I’m thinking of Ambassador Michael Guest, our first openly gay career FSO, who faced some formidable challenges; and of those who founded Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies, including Ted Osius, now serving as ambassador to Vietnam. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining an event in Washington where all six sitting openly gay ambassadors were in attendance. That’s a fairly visible and tangible sign of progress, though there’s still room to go, of course. SD: What challenges remain? In this position, will you be getting involved in advocacy for LGBT rights at home? RB: The last few years have seen tremendous positive change in the rights and benefits for LGBT members of the Foreign Ser- vice. With the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision and subsequent steps taken by the Obama administration, even more substantial progress has been made on ensuring that LGBT FSOs receive equal benefits. Clearly, though, challenges remain—including the fact that there are a significant number of countries that fail to provide proper diplomatic accreditation to LGBT family mem- bers, which obviously reduces the number of countries in which LGBT families can serve. GLIFAA has done a commendable job of engaging with department leadership on these issues. While I clearly care about, and am personally and professionally affected by, this set of issues, in my role as special envoy I’ll be focusing my efforts on progress in the international sphere. n