The Foreign Service Journal, June 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2015 25 With significant successes to celebrate, GLIFAA is broadening its reach in the campaign for full equality for LGBT individuals. BY SE L I M AR I TURK SelimAriturk, a Foreign Service officer since 2005, teaches public diplomacy training courses at the Foreign Service Institute. His overseas postings have included Seoul, Baku and Erbil. The president of GLIFAA (originally Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies), he previously served as that organization’s policy director, vice president and first post representative coordinator (when that position was created in 2009). The views expressed here are his alone and not necessarily those of the U.S. government. A s our country has changed, so, too, has GLIFAA. The group that was founded in 1992 as Gays and Lesbi- ans in Foreign Affairs Agencies now welcomes more and more members who are neither gay nor lesbian. Some of them identify as bisexual or transgender, and some as allies. With that reality in mind, this year our members voted to make our acronym our name: GLIFAA. Everyone has always been welcome in GLIFAA, and we want to make that openness even more explicit. Similarly, our new tagline is “LGBT+ Pride in Foreign Affairs Agencies.” I suspect most FSJ readers will know that LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and How Far We’ve Come, How Far We Have to Go: GLIFAA in 2015 transgender; we like to think the + stands for every additional “let- ter” one could conceivably think of—including any that our allies might choose. For those who remember the dark days of the “Lavender Scare,” or have read the book of the same title, and know about the terrible witch hunts to root out all the “pansies” and “pinkos” at State throughout the ColdWar, but particularly during the 1950s, our March 24 event with six “out” ambassadors was an inspiring reminder of just how far the march toward equality has brought us. Imagine: Six out and proud ambassadors on stage, each talk- ing about the work he can do more effectively because he can be open. Now imagine that panel being moderated by Stuart Milk, nephew of the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who so famously showed us the importance of being out in govern- ment service. This may have seemed unimaginable to GLIFAA’s founders in 1992, but in March the whole thing was recorded and beamed around the world on msnbc.com for any post to use as they tell this very American story. Many of GLIFAA’s founders were in the room for that event. One, Ted Osius, was on the panel as an out ambassador. Another, Jan Krc, was among those who were once kicked out of the Foreign Service just for being gay. Jan sued to get back in, lost, and then, after the law changed, showed his great patriotism by signing up to join our proud Foreign Service once more. FOCUS ON DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION