Out Gay Ambassador Nominations Celebrated—Except for in the Dominican

President Obama was busy last month celebrating Gay Pride, and he’s receiving some criticism for it. If accepted by the Senate, five people nominated to ambassador positions abroad will more than double the number of out gay U.S. ambassadors.

Daniel Baer has been nominated to be the ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), based in Vienna, Austria. James Costos has been nominated to become the ambassador of Spain after he and his partner raised over $1 million for Obama’s reelection. John Berry has been nominated for Australia, and Rufus Gifford, for Denmark. Gifford was Obama’s fundraising director for 2012.

The most widely-publicized nomination has been that of James “Wally” Brewster, set for the ambassador position in the Dominican Republic. Also part of Obama’s fundraising team, Brewster was another one of the million-plus earners.

The opponent for the nomination comes from the Catholic Church within the Dominican Republic. Many Roman Catholic leaders have considered the nomination an affront to the church and the Catholic roots of the country. Disagreements within the country have been so fierce that Santo Domingo Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús Lópes Rodríguez referred to Brewster with offensive slang, laughing after replying to a reporter’s question switching subjects in an interview with, “We go from faggots and lesbians to chickens?” The Cardinal specifically used the word “maricón,” typically translated as “faggot” in Spanish.

The nomination procedure for ambassador positions must be approved by both governments before the position is considered official, and both the U.S. and Dominican governments quickly reacted to show their support for the nomination in spite of the religious controversy. The U.S. Embassy in the Dominican reassured the country by saying that “Brewster arrives as an ambassador. He’s not coming here as an activist for the gay community.” The Dominican embassy in Washington D.C. announced that Brewster “has already been accepted by the Dominican Republic as the next United States Ambassador to the country” and that “it is the position of the Government of the Dominican Republic that a person’s sexual preference is strictly a personal matter.” Coming full circle, the Dominican president’s advisor stated that “It would be indelicate for the Dominican state to refuse the nomination now.”

Progressive within the Caribbean, the population has pushed back against the Catholic Church’s statements. The lgbt community publically protested the church’s decision, excited for Brewster’s appointment, and criticized the church on its silence of a 2003 pedophilia case. At least one Catholic priest has publically declared welcome for Brewster. Further, two informal polls by Dominican newspapers, Hoy and Pulso Dominicano, showed support for Brewster’s nomination: 60 percent of respondents were against how the Catholic Church criticized Brewster, and 57 percent believe the government should promote more opportunities for gays to hold public office.

Obama’s actions are in line with his December 2011 statement addressing lgbt issues internationally being human rights, and since then have been more openly progressive on lgbt issues internally and externally.

For the five nominees, they have to be officially nominated by the Senate, where there shouldn’t be any issues for any individual. Brewster’s nomination should be secure if the Dominican Republic’s president Danilo Medina doesn’t back down on the nomination due to pressure from the Catholic Church.

“A Milestone Year” = Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign President

What a year!  The re-election of President Barack Obama who initially said his position on same-sex marriage was ‘evolving’and later altered his stance to full-blown endorsement of gay marriage… Tammy Bladwin  from Wisconsin becomes the first openly lesbian Senator. Across the United States, openly gay legislators and senators won seats, including a transgender legislator from New Hampshire.

Voters Approve same-sex marriage in Maine, Washington, and Maryland

Maine

This state, like Maryland and Washington, voted on whether to place a ban on gay marriage in the State Constitution. A 2009 referendum quashed a gay marriage law enacted by the legislative, as in California in 2008.  Over the summer, enough signatures were collected to schedule the vote.

This is the first time that gay marriage has won at the polls by a popular vote.  Dating back to 1998, same- sex marriage has been rejected in all thirty-two states that have held popular votes on the issue.

Maryland and Washington

In gay marriage,  laws were approved by law makers and signed by governments earlier this year. However, opponents collected enough signatures to challenge the laws. The most expensive campaign for gay marriage was launched in Washington State, where supporters of Referendum 74 to endorse same-sex marriage raised nearly $11 million, with the help of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com.  Earlier this year, Starbucks, a supporter of gay marriage, fought boycotts by marriage equality opponents.

Minnesota

Voters rejected a ban on same-sex marriage.  The question was whether the state would join thirty others in placing in its Constitution a ban on gay marriage.  Although the ban was defeated, same-sex marriage would remain illegal in Minnesota under the statue.

Conservatives were trying to pass an amendment to the State Constitution to prevent a new legislature from reversing it. ( The legislation that was up for vote would have made it constitutionally more difficult for judges or lawmakers to overturn the ban.)

Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, acknowledges that opponents outspent three to one in the state ballot campaigns.  He says, “ through we are disappointed over these losses, we remain faithful to our mission and committed to the cause of preserving marriage as God designed it.”  The Roman Catholic Church affiliates  and wealthy  individuals such as Frank Schubert, a California consultant, orchestrated campaigns to combat same-sex marriage.

“Tuesday’s Elections Signify An Historic Shift” – Griffin

The election was a turning point.  Public opinion has definitely shifted.  Recent polls show that a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage.

The name of states with gay marriage increased by 50% overnight.  Still, as Brian Brown points out, “ it bolsters our case.  It’s very difficult to say you need a federal resolution of this question.  if states are resolving it for themselves.  Adam Umhoefer, the executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, says that “fundamental constitutional rights like marriage, should never be subjected to a popular vote. (see http://”States’ Votes for Gay Marriage Are Timely, With Justices Ready to Weigh Cases, ” The New York Times, 11-8-12.