August 2

Michael Guest
Trail-blazing former U.S. Ambassador to Romania

One week after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Secretary of State Colin Powell presided over the swearing in of Michael Guest, an openly gay longtime state department employee, as U.S. ambassador to Romania. During the ceremony Powell took the time to respectfully acknowledge Guest's partner of six years, Alex Nevarez. The Human Rights Campaign called Powell’s acknowledgment of Nevarez a “small gesture that spoke volumes.”

Michael Guest was the first publicly gay man to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a U.S. Ambassador. But serving as an openly-gay ambassador under the Bush administration did not prove to be as pleasant as his swearing-in. Guest retired in 2007, and at his retirement ceremony, “he did what few people do — displayed uncommon courage and threw a rhetorical hand-grenade into his own party,” the New York Times reported. “Guest took Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who was not present) to task for failing to treat the partners of gay and lesbian foreign service officers the same as the spouses of heterosexual officers.” Guest said that was the reason for his departure from diplomatic service.

Quotes from his retirement speech:

“Most departing ambassadors use these events to talk about their successes . . . But I want to talk about my signal failure, the failure that in fact is causing me to leave the career that I love,” said Mr. Guest, 54, whose most recent assignment was dean of the leadership and management school at the Foreign Service Institute, the government’s school for diplomats.

“For the past three years, I’ve urged the Secretary and her senior management team to redress policies that discriminate against gay and lesbian employees. Absolutely nothing has resulted from this. And so I’ve felt compelled to choose between obligations to my partner — who is my family — and service to my country. That anyone should have to make that choice is a stain on the Secretary’s leadership and a shame for this institution and our country,” he said.

“Unlike heterosexual spouses, gay partners are not entitled to State Department-provided security training, free medical care at overseas posts, guaranteed evacuation in case of a medical emergency, transportation to overseas posts, or special living allowances when foreign service officers are assigned to places like Iraq, where diplomatic families are not permitted.”

“This is not about gay rights. … It’s about equal treatment of all employees, all of whom have the same service requirements, the same contractual requirements,” said Guest.

While the Bush administration has previously indicated an unwillingness to outlaw employment discrimination, Guest courageously highlighted the fact that the administration was also practicing it.

Historical note:
When Bill Clinton tried to appoint openly gay Jim Hormel ambassador to Luxembourg in 1997, the Senate blocked him for 21 months. Clinton finally appointed Hormel in 1999 without Senate confirmation while the Senate was in recess.