The Foreign Service Journal, December 2008

DE C EMB E R 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 69 A F S A N E W S “It was only after House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Ileana Ros Lehtinen, R-Fla., asked Secretary Rice about my departure at an open hearing in February 2008 that the Secretary took the step of opening the Security Overseas Seminar to partners on a space-available basis—something I’dpushed for since the fall of 2004.” After Guest retired from the Foreign Service, he was flooded with requests to speakpubliclyabouthis experiences. When MarkBromley,aWashington-basedhuman rights lawyer, and Julie Dorf, the San Francisco-basedfounderoftheInternational Gay andLesbianHumanRightsCommis- sion, approached him about creating the Council for Global Equality, he jumped at the opportunity to be in the forefront of effecting change. The council is made up of 11 human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans- gender organizations working together to promote equality in the United States and overseas. Council members describe their effort as “aprincipledattempt toensure that those who represent America — in Con- gress, theWhiteHouse,U.S. embassies and U.S. corporations — use the diplomatic, political andeconomic leverage available to them to oppose human rights abuses that toooftenaredirectedat individualsbecause of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.” Lately, the council has focusedattention on S. 2521, the Domestic Partner Benefits andObligationsAct. Membersof thecoun- cil andother organizations gave statements underscoring the need for equal rights for domestic partners at a Senate committee hearingonSept. 24. InOctober, theAFSA Governing Board voted to join Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies in a writtenstatement supporting this legislation. Unfortunately, although there is a strong support base for thebill, therewas not time for it to move forward before the close of thelastcongressionalsession. Itwillbeintro- ducedagainnextyear,withthecouncil,GLI- FAA and AFSA among its strong propo- nents. Meanwhile, Guest, who earned a 2006 AFSA Constructive Dissent Award for his work on the issue, is dividing his time between advising the council, speaking on workplace-equalityissues atconferencesand conventions and, as of this writing, work- ing on several policy committees for the Barack Obama presidential campaign. SteveKashkett, AFSAvice president for State, calls Guest “a pioneer,” saying that he has “courageously drawn attention to the unique disadvantages and hardships faced by domestic partners of Foreign Servicemembers assignedoverseas. Unlike domestic federal employees, ourmembers abroad incur huge out-of-pocket costs to cover the travel and expenses of their part- ners, who are in every respect their family members. As an ambassador and a rising star in the Foreign Service,Mike riskedhis own career advancement to put this issue on the table for the Secretary of State and the director general.” Although retiring from the Foreign Service was a difficult decision for Guest, he has no regrets. “Leaving was the right thing for me to do. I had to balance the demands of career, life and family.” Guest’s departure from the State Depart- ment was ultimately a family issue. “I’m not asking theStateDepartment toapprove gay marriage,” he explains. “I’m just ask- ing the government to support my fami- ly as theywould any other Foreign Service family.” For more information about the Council forGlobal Equality, please visit the council’s Web site at www.globalequali ty.org/ On Oct. 2, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued an ALDAC telegram noting that more than enough personnel have volunteered for unaccompanied assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sec. Rice congratulated staff on their courage, loyalty and patriotism. As the 7th floor had no statement for the media on this important development, AFSA issued a press release on the same day, applauding the many Foreign Service and Civil Service personnel who have stepped forward to fill every single position in Iraq and Afghanistan voluntarily, as they have done each year since the start of these mis- sions. AFSA also pointed out that this news offered the media a chance to “set the record straight,” since the public’s perception of the Foreign Service had been undeservedly diminished as a result of slant- ed and faulty reporting on this topic a year ago. AFSA’s statement is reprinted here in its entirety: “The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) welcomes Secretary Rice’s announcement that the Department of State has now filled all of its positions at the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan for the summer 2009 assignment cycle with qualified, willing volunteers —as has been the case every year since those two diplomatic missions came into existence. It is a tribute to the courage and sense of duty of the people of the Foreign Service that our members, as well as a num- ber of Civil Service colleagues, have stepped forward without hesitation every year to staff the embassies and Provincial Reconstruction Teams in those two war zones. These are our largest diplomatic missions in the world, and they present unique dangers and challenges to the thousands of our members who have volunteered since 2003. “AFSA hopes that those journalists, media outlets and commenta- tors who erroneously reported last October that the Department of State had been unable to fully staff the Iraq mission will now show as much zeal in reporting that, in fact, every one of these positions in both Iraq and Afghanistan for summer 2009 has been filled more than eight months in advance. Those journalists did a great disservice to the Department of State and its employees —who have never shied away from hardship service in some of the most dangerous places on earth—and we hope that these journalists will now set the record straight.” The statement generated some media response, mostly on Internet news sites, but AFSA continues to press for fuller and more unbiased coverage. AFSA’s officers and staff have repeatedly urged journalists who cover the State Department to help correct a misleading and damaging perception that Foreign Service officers are unwilling to serve in dangerous posts. AFSA: “Set the Record Straight” on Iraq Assignments AFSA NEWS BRIEFS