The Human Rights Campaign, the Harvey Milk Foundation and GLIFAA hosted a historic panel discussion featuring all of the openly LGBT American ambassadors, Tuesday at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
The panel included U.S. Ambassador to Australia John Berry, U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James ‘Wally’ Brewster, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Daniel Baer, U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra James Costos and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius.
Stuart Milk, the gay nephew of assassinated San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and president of the Harvey Milk Foundation, moderated the panel. The Washington Blade reported that Milk described the LGBT ambassadors as “wonderful representatives of the LGBT community.” HRC President Chad Griffin, further categorized the men as “trailblazers.”
“Today there is no clearer sign of our progress in 2015 than the fact that there is not one, not two, but six openly gay ambassadors serving our country overseas,” said Griffin at the beginning of the panel. “They’re dear friends. They’re true leaders.”
During the discussion reported The Washington Blade, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, who is a founding member of GLIFAA, during the panel noted a high school student in the Vietnamese city of Hue a few weeks ago asked him if he was gay and whether he “came here with your husband and with your child.” The boy proceeded to ask him in front of his classmates whether he felt comfortable in his country.
Osius — who assumed his post late last year — told the student that gay members of the Foreign Service once lost their security clearances if they acknowledged their sexual orientation.
“We’ve made quite a lot of progress in that time,” said Osius, who is raising a three-week-old daughter and toddler-aged son with his husband, Clayton Bond. “When I got off the plane in Vietnam, ours was an American family: A black man, a white man and a brown child. And we were received so warmly in Vietnam.”
“It’s very important to have out and open and visible service,” said Stuart Milk. “We have to be at the table. We have to have LGBT people visible, even in difficult places.”
Watch the MSNBC video above for a full presentation of the discussion.
