About 2,200
government employees working in foreign affairs signed a
letter supporting the rights of the LGBT employees that was
hand-delivered to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's
office Monday afternoon.
The letter (full
text below) from Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs
Agencies congratulated Secretary Clinton on her
confirmation and then proceeded to outline a number of
inequities faced by same-sex partners of employees at
the State Department and the U.S. Agency for
International Development, among others.
"We are concerned
that access to the federal health care insurance
program is denied to same-sex partners of employees serving
in Third World countries with substandard medical
care," read the letter. "We question the logic of
leaving same-sex partners to fend for themselves
during an emergency evacuation of a high danger post.
We are embarrassed when the Department will
reimburse a variety of moving expenses, including the
cost of transporting a pet, when an employee is
assigned overseas, but will not do the same for a same-sex
partner."
The
document's delivery came on the heels of Clinton's
confirmation testimony earlier this month in which she
promised to review the policy regarding same-sex
partners of civil and foreign service agents. "This
issue was brought to my attention during the transition,"
Clinton noted. "I've asked to have more briefing on it
because I think that we should take a hard look at the
existing policy."
Same-sex partners
of foreign service personnel are currently deprived of
health care benefits and are unable to access other
services available to heterosexual spouses, such as
subsidized relocation, language training, employment
opportunities, on-site medical treatment, and
evacuation aid in emergency situations. According to Gays
and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA), an
order from Clinton to designate gay partners as
eligible family members could remedy a number of these
inequalities.
J. Michelle
Schohn, president of GLIFAA, said the group has not yet
received a response from Secretary Clinton but anticipated
the issue would be addressed.
"We feel really
confident that she will end up seeing the letter and
that she is interested in hearing our issues," said Schohn,
who has spent five years as a foreign service officer
and whose partner has served for seven. "The mood here
is overwhelmingly optimistic -- as optimistic as I
have seen it."
Schohn said the
majority of the signatories were heterosexual, and she
was particularly struck that 92% of the those who signed had
no "member of household" -- meaning they have nothing
to gain immediately from a policy change because they
are either single, in a heterosexual marriage, or
their partner is also employed as a foreign service
officer and so the department usually assigns the couple in
tandem whether they are gay or straight.
"Those people
were signing just because it's the right and fair thing
to do. I can't tell you how amazing that feels, being a
lesbian person in the department, to have that kind of
support from your colleagues," said Schohn, who had
been working on the message since mid November. "It's
just an overwhelmingly positive feeling I've gotten from my
colleagues during the course of doing this letter." (Kerry
Eleveld, Advocate.com)
Text of the
letter:
Madam Secretary:
We congratulate you on your Senate confirmation,
and we look forward to working with you in promoting
America's interests and strengthening our
national security in this rapidly changing world.
Whether assigned stateside or overseas, Civil
Service or Foreign Service, active or retired, we
are all proud to be serving our nation.
We, the undersigned and representing the diversity
of the foreign affairs agencies, would like to bring to
your attention a matter that concerns us all. All
of us are troubled that our families are not all
treated equally and with the same respect. We
are concerned that access to the federal health care
insurance program is denied to same-sex partners
of employees serving in Third World countries with
substandard medical care. We question the logic of
leaving same-sex partners to fend for themselves
during an emergency evacuation of a high danger
post. We are embarrassed when the Department will
reimburse a variety of moving expenses, including
the cost of transporting a pet, when an employee
is assigned overseas, but will not do the same for a
same-sex partner. We are saddened that individual and
community safety are put at risk because full
language instruction is not available to same-sex
partners. We are uncomfortable that same-sex partners
receive less compensation and fewer benefits for
performing exactly the same job inside the mission
as an opposite-sex spouse, that is, when same-sex
partners are given a chance to work.
An order from your office designating same-sex
partners as Eligible Family Members (EFMs) could remedy
many of the inequalities that these families face.
Other remedies will require coordination between
the Executive and Legislative branches.
Madam Secretary, we believe that no colleague of
ours is a second-class colleague, and no colleague's
family is a second-class family. Given your
commitment to protecting the safety and promoting
the welfare of all Foreign Service families, we ask for
your full consideration of our concerns and we
hope that a dialogue aimed at ending this unequal
treatment can be started.
Your loyal staff,
