Washington Post: “Clinton Gives Hope To Gay Diplomats”

Posted on 05. Feb, 2009 by Emmanuelle Archer in Blog, Expat Life
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The Washington Post reported yesterday that Hillary Clinton “promised gay diplomats Wednesday to work toward securing better rights and benefits for them and their partners”. You can read the full article here.

Same-sex partners of US diplomats have the right to live with them in government funded-housing but do not currently have access to other benefits.

Former US ambassador to Romania Michael Guest caused a stir back in December 2007 during his retirement party when he announced that he was leaving the Foreign Service due to failure to “redress policies that discriminate against gay and lesbian employees.”

Many Western countries either fully recognise same-sex marriages, or grant equal treatment to gay Foreign Service officers and their partners when it comes to security training, medical care, transportation or living allowances.

Beyond domestic policies, gay diplomats can find themselves in difficult situations when posted in countries where homosexuality is considered a criminal offence.
In 2007, India refused to grant diplomatic spousal status to the same-sex spouses of two Canadian diplomats. Under Indian law, the Canadian officers and their partners could face from 10 years in jail to lifelong imprisonment for same-sex acts.