Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Employees Seek Equality
FrontLines - February 2009
At USAID, Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA) represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
employees, their families,
and straight supporters.
GLIFAA is a membership organization of more than 500 Foreign Service, Civil Service, Foreign Service National, and other employees of the State Department, USAID, Foreign Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, Peace Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and
contractors and grantees.
“I feel completely comfortable
being myself and sharing my life with my co-workers,” USAID’s Marlise Edwards said. “I hope and look forward to one day [when I will] be able to receive benefits that recognize my partner and family as well.”
The group was founded in 1992, the year that sexual orientation
ceased to be a barrier in granting security clearances. Its principle is equal benefits for all employees, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
In 2000, the category “Member of Household” (MOH) was established to recognize the full range of Foreign Service families, which includes same-sex partners, opposite-sex partners,
adult children, and aging parents. The policy, issued by the Department of State, provides limited benefits to MOHs, such as assistance for visas and inclusion
on warden lists. But it does not provide benefits such as health insurance, relocation costs, or evacuation in emergencies. Interpretation of the policy varies widely, for instance, regarding limited access to U.S. facilities and services at overseas posts.
Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr., director general of the Foreign Service and director of human resources at the Department of State, has made access to emergency visitation travel, security training, language
courses, distance learning training, and a course for Iraq-bound employees available to MOHs, this year, GLIFAA President J. Michelle Schohn said.
The first celebration of Lesbian and Gay Pride Month
at USAID was held in 2001. That year, former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios presented the Agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity Award to Ajit Joshi and Erin Krasik for their achievements in promoting diversity in the USAID workforce.
GLIFAA celebrated its 10-
year anniversary in 2002, the same year that it invited openly gay Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.,
then chairman of the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee and Appropriations Committee in 2002, to serve as its Gay Pride Month keynote speaker. It also honored James Hormel, ambassador to Luxembourg from 1999 to 2001, as the first openly gay U.S. ambassador. From 2004 to 2007, GLIFAA worked with Mosina Jordan, the Agency’s former counselor and chair of the USAID Executive Diversity Council, to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees in Agency diversity surveys.
“We look forward to the day when all employees, lesbian, gay, bisexual, straight, and transgender are treated equally,” said Joshi, GLIFAA’s director of policy, “When that day comes, it will be because of the hard work of GLIFAA, the USAID Executive Diversity Council, and all our allies.”
GLIFAA officials said pets receive benefits, such as transportation
overseas, but partners do not. FSOs with non-American partners are further challenged in fulfilling their FSO tour-of-duty requirement in Washington because there is no provision for their same-sex partners to obtain U.S. visas to join them here.
“I have benefited from exceptional
training and mentoring and have moved up through the ranks into the Senior Foreign Service, where I have served as a deputy director and soon as a mission director,” USAID’s Jeff Bell said.
“However, for the past six years, having a partner of the same sex with the denial of basic benefits provided to married partners is making it increasingly
difficult to continue my service with USAID beyond the immediate horizon,” he said, “since I’m denying my partner an opportunity to pursue his career and the financial burdens of no benefits.”
One FSO said he was evacuated
from Indonesia and had to leave his then partner behind because domestic partners are not automatically evacuated in the case of emergency as are other family members on travel orders, such as spouses.
GLIFAA and other groups have requested that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees across the foreign affairs agencies and with affiliated
employers are treated equitably,
receiving the same benefits
given to straight employees and their spouses to build a diverse Foreign Service for the 21st century.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
To have FrontLines delivered
to you via postal mail, please subscribe.
Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
To view PDF files, download
the Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
Back to Top ^
|
