GLIFAA has re-vamped the information it is collecting for GLIFAA members.  Please visit here, enter your email address, and click on the link in the email you will receive to update your information (this is how you initially signed up for GLIFAA's mailing list).  Or you can also go to the bottom of this email and click on "Update Profile/Email Address." 

 

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Thanks so much!

 

-The GLIFAA Board

Tonic

 

Ajit Joshi received USAID funding for a second LGBT training this year.  Earlier this year, he went to Creating Change sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force during February in Detroit.  In September he participated in Out and Equal's Annual Workplace Summit. 
 
Joshi encourages all GLIFAA members, whether posted overseas or in the United States, straight colleagues and human resource personnel to attend Out and Equal's October 2009 Summit in Orlando or the January 2009 Creating Change in Denver.
 
Luminaries headlined this year's Out and Equal Conference including Ariana Huffington and Keith Boykin, yet the best speakers were two transgender advocates and the CEO of Clorox, Don Knauss.  Don presented an in-depth approach to leadership and iterated that it is important for senior managers to say "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" when referring to our community.  He iterated again and again how there is a business imperative for managers to be inclusive of all employees. 
 
Joshi participated in a day long session entitled Transgender Education that was co-taught by Donna Rose and Jamison Green.  Transgender is an umbrella term to describe anyone who does not match their apparent or actual physical sex.  Gender identity is the internal, deeply felt sense of being male, female, other, or in between. Gender expression is the outward manifestation of our gender identity - behavior, role, characteristics.  At birth, a sex is assigned to us by medical practitioners in the delivery room.  The key issue is to be aware of people's feelings and experience rather than label people.  Some facts and figures on retention vis a vis private sector - 58% of 519 employers rated in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index (CEI) prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.  78% provide at least one of the five general categories of treatment.  As of last year's CEI survey data, 78 employers provided insurance coverage that covered all five categories.  Anyone interested in these issues should read HRC's excellent publication Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace authored by Samir Luther.
 
Other conference highlights include an AT&T executive who mentioned that allowing people to be their authentic selves adds value to the organization.  Microsoft noted that advocating policy change is important, but so is understanding people through mentoring and working with allies.  A session on African Americans and LGBTs provided some useful information on working across different communities.  An outstanding instructor taught a hard nosed tax law session on Domestic partnership and taxes and said he would entertain requests for pro bono assistance.  A workplace productivity session provided evidence that people perform better when they can be themselves.  When they are out, there is greater efficiency, confidence, relationships, creativity, and recruitment/retention/career progression, said a UK based organization, Stonewall, in their Peak Performance report.  PFLAG ran a great session on a new program, Straight for Equality that is a toolkit on how to talk with allies, which may be helpful to GLIFAA.  The PFLAG presentation featured panelists from PepsiCo and MasterCard who shared stories on how the training has improved their workplace.  A session on leadership and the importance of an Executive Sponsor for an employee resource group (ERG) to help make the business case on retention, productivity.  For example, IBM serves as the gold standard with 60 out executives and managers attending conferences like Out and Equal.  GLIFAA is fortunate to have U/S Patrick Kennedy as our Mentor and Executive Sponsor.
 
Conference events also included some films that were screened by Frameline, including "Seoul to Soul" about a Korean-American's coming to terms with his sexual orientation, "Two Spirits" about one Native American's experience, and "Legacy" about a lesbian African Caribbean woman and the relationship with her mother.
 

 

Policy Director Ajit Joshi and Public Affairs Director Ashton Giese held a monthly GLIFAA meeting at the Thai Place Restaurant in Foggy Bottom on September 24, 2008.  Over a dozen people attended the meeting, some for the first time.  The Directors introduced a new member of the GLIFAA team, Joshua Jones, who is interning with GLIFAA this fall as part of his studies.  Joshua is a senior at State University of New York (SUNY) Potsdam College majoring in Politics with a double minor in Asian and Arabic studies.  He is interning with GLIFAA through SUNY's Washington Internship Program.   for Fall Semester 2008.  He has lived and studied in China, Italy, and Ireland, has a background in music, and has brought his dedicated talents to support GLIFAA's work this fall.  We are thrilled to have him with us.  We also encourage members to make themselves available to Joshua as he is interested in having informational discussions about careers in foreign affairs, including being a FSO. 
 
At the monthly meeting, Fred Boll expressed interest launching a GLIFAA Legal Working Group.  Please contact Fred to get involved.  We expect that this group will discuss 501C3 issues, visa reciprocity, B2 visas and the "MOH clause," and other issues that for MOHs that could be addressed via policy. 
 
We had the pleasure to meet Christian Charette and Rich Fitzsimmons who submitted the first same-sex marriage certificate to State for consideration.  Unfortuanntely, they were denied, but we thank them for their efforts and courage in submitting their information to State. 
 
The monthly meeting included discussion of the points the Board expected to discuss with the DG and previous articles published in the Foreign Service Journal relative to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees.  AFSA Editor and GLIFAA Member Steve Honley promised to dig up the January 1993 article that that case studies on MOHs. 
 
The monthly meeting also included a discussion of the recent Out and Equal conference, the need to thank Lieberman/Collins/IBM for the DPBO hearing, TJ and Ashton's efforts on the membership database, Joshua's work on archiving GLIFAA's files, and the need to start organizing now for the holiday/winter annual GLIFAA Pink Party. 
 
We also discussed the need for the Homeland Security Government Affairs Committee to obtain written testimony for the record from GLIFAA following the hearing.  We encourage all members to read about the hearing.  It is available via WebCast.  GLIFAA members are also encouraged to read Lieberman's statement as well as those of the witnesses.  Members can also read FedGlobe's statement.
 
Bob Gilchrist is willing to host the GLIFAA October meeting at his home.  Date and time to be confirmed.
 
The board sends a request to all DC-based and metro-accessible members to consider hosting a monthly meeting at your home.  It can be very easy - a wine and cheese affair - a potluck - or simply ordering in from a local restaurant at each member's cost.
 

 

 

Participating in the International Career Advancement Program at The Aspen Institute from September 20 -28 was an overwhelmingly positive experience.  As the only lesbian participant in the 2008 cohort, I had the chance to meet incredibly diverse and talented people of color from all federal, private and non-profit agencies.  Out of approximately 175 applicants, 24 mid-level professionals from underrepresented groups working in international affairs are chosen to spend a week learning from more senior officials, past participants, and career advising professionals.  The goal is to increase the number of underrepresented groups at the senior levels in international affairs careers as well as build a network of support within the ICAP community.  I learned a great deal about myself and the experiences of individuals in other underrepresented groups, and was also able to share my experiences as an LGBT employee within the State Department.  I think my fellow participants learned a lot about the challenges we face, both personal and professional, and I had many conversations with colleagues that increased both of our perspectives. 
 
I also gained ideas about how to continue to push for equal rights and encourage more LGBT individuals to consider a career in one of the foreign affairs agencies and hope to bring some ideas for a mission statement to GLIFAA at a future meeting.  If anyone is interested in this program, please contact myself, or Ajit Joshi, a past participant.  Other GLIFAA members that are ICAP alumni are Clayton Bond, Roy Potts, and Max Aguilar.
GLIFAA Participates in an Out for Work Conference Panel

GLIFAA was invited to participate in the Out for Work Fourth Annual National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Ally College Student Career Conference on Saturday, September 27, 2008.  GLIFAA President Michelle Shohn moderated the panel.  GLIFAA Policy Director Ajit Joshi and GLIFAA member Ken Seifert participated on the panel along with Michelle.  The panel was entitled "Out in Government."  The panelists spoke about their career paths, whether the foreign affairs agencies are LGBT friendly, and how students may navigate their careers.  The panelists particularly encouraged the students to identify their passions and interview a potential employer closely as there are implications, regarding benefits, for LGBT employees with same-sex partners.  The panelists also asked the students to think about whether they want to have families and whether the workplaces they are considering will be friendly to those who are LGBT with families.  There was great interest in the foreign service and all foreign affairs agencies.  Ken Seifert particularly appreciated being invited back.  Ken wrote extensively about his experience on the panel last year in a previous edition of the GLIFAA Globe.

On September 24th the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, chaired by Senator Lieberman, had their hearing on the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act. Senator Lieberman started out by saying that this legislation would stop the discriminatory attitudes that puts the Federal government at a disadvantage for recruiting and retaining the best employees, which is greatly needed as there will soon be a generational change. As the baby-boomers retire over the next 10 years they will take some 60% of the workforce with them and if the government wishes to keep up with the private sector then change is needed. 

 

All of the hearing participants said, there is strong support for domestic partner benefits in the best of the private sector.  With the exception of Administration representative, Deputy Director Weizmann of the Office of Personnel Management, who came out against the legislation. His arguments presented concerns about fraud but his factual backing was in the form of the Adam Sandler movie "I now pronounce you, Chuck and Larry" much to the astonishment of the audience. He also admitted that OPM had done no surveys of needs or interest on the part of prospective employees. 

 

Senator Collins, Ranking Minority member, and Senator Akaka are providing strong support for this important legislation. Senator Collins when countering Weizmann's testimony on fraud used Maine's own legislation on DP benefits as an example to show that there was no increase in fraud. 

 

The participants from IBM, FDIC, AFGE and NTEU illustrated that this is important for people; DP benefits provide equity and fairness; how the private sector dealt with the issue; fears of fraud and abuse are insubstantial; and the costs were minimal. 

From Member Andy Ball

The State Department has a new online form in HROnline for employees to update their own emergency contact information.  Click on GEMS Self Service, the Employee Self Service, then Personal Information.  There you can input the names and phone numbers of people who are emergency contacts.  There is a pull-down list that you will use to define your relationship to your emergency contact person.  Encouragingly the list includes the option "Domestic Partner - Adult."