Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight is a career public servant, advocate, and activist. He was the first publicly gay man to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a U.S. Ambassador, who ultimately chose his convictions and his family over career. Today's Out Spotlight is Fr. Ambassador Michael Guest.

Michael E. Guest was geared to public service early on, receiving his BA in History and Political Science from Furman University, followed by a MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, and began his career in Foreign Service in 1981. He rose to be member of the senior Foreign Service, working for ambassadors in France and the Czech Republic.

His career focused on European policy, with emphasis on using rule of law, individual and collective rights, and anti-corruption measures to anchor Europe's new democracies. In 2001 he was appointed by President George W. Bush as the U.S. Ambassador to Romania.

Guest was sworn in by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on September 18, 2001 and took up his duties on September 24, 2001.
During his speech at Guest's swearing-in ceremony in the State Department Diplomatic Reception Room, Powell explicitly noted the presence of and positively recognized Guest's partner of 6 years at the time, Alex Nevarez.

LGBT rights groups viewed Guest's appointment, and Powell's remarks, as historic and indicative of greater recognition of gay State Department employees and same-sex partners. Conservative groups expressed opposition to Guest's appointment and to Powell's gesture.

Guest was the first publicly gay man to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a U.S. Ambassador. The first publicly gay ambassador, James Hormel, received a recess appointment from Bill Clinton after the Senate failed to confirm his nomination.

Romania's last anti-gay law, Article 200 of the Penal Code, which criminalized public manifestations of homosexuality, was repealed shortly before Guest's arrival as ambassador in 2001. Guest and Nevarez resided together openly as couple at the residence of the American Embassy in Bucharest until 2004 when Guest's appointment came to an end.

During Guest's tenure as ambassador, he spoke out against public corruption in Romania, which he said had impeded the country's development since the fall of communism. While at the same time, his ambassadorship was characterized by strong relations between the U.S. and Romania including Romania committing troops to support U.S.-led efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It was also during his tenure Romania was admitted into NATO and intensified negotiations that would eventually lead to the country's accession into the European Union. The President made an official visit to Bucharest in 2002.

Before Guest's departure from Romanian embassy, then Romanian President Ion Iliescu awarded him the Romanian "Order for Faithful Service in the Rank of Grand Cross" in appreciation for his "high professionalism, dedication to his mission ... and for his personal contribution to the strengthening of the Romanian-American partnership."

In April 2003, the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce recognized Guest with a Leadership Award, which honors individuals who have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people. And in 2004, the State Department awarded him the Charles E. Cobb, Jr. award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development due to his leadership in increasing trade between the U.S. and Romania.

Guest continued his work in the State Department after his appointment in Romania concluded in 2004 and becoming the Dean of the Leadership and Management School at the Foreign Service Institute, the government’s school for diplomats.

His assignments over his career in addition to his appointments as ambassador to Romania and duties as Dean, include Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission in the Czech Republic; and Deputy Executive Secretary. And among other earlier responsibilities, he served as White House Assistant Press Secretary and as a member of U.S. delegations to bilateral arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union and to the "Two-Plus-Four" talks that led to Germany's unification.

In June 2006, the American Foreign Service Association awarded him the Christian Herter Award for Constructive Dissent, for his advocacy on behalf of equality for State Department gay and lesbian employees.

On December 4, 2007, after 26 years in Foreign Service, Guest retired from the State Department after having sought, without success, to end the State Department's discriminatory treatment of the partners of gay and lesbian Foreign Service Officers in foreign postings.

At his retirement ceremony in the Treaty Room, Guest publicly criticized Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the issue of discrimination against gay employees and specifically the benefits given to same-sex partners of those employees. While the Bush administration had previously indicated an unwillingness to outlaw employment discrimination, Guest courageously highlighted the fact that the administration was also practicing it.

He remarked, “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,”

“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.”

“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,”

In 2008 Guest had been selected as a member of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team at the State Department and indicated he could be under consideration for a senior-level appointment in the incoming Obama administration.

Guest joined others as a co-author of the Dallas Principles. The principles were drafted May 15-17, 2009, in Dallas, Texas, by 24 LGBT rights advocates who were frustrated with the Obama administration's pace of fulfilling its campaign promises to the LGBT community.

The Dallas Principles are a set of eight guiding principles to achieve full LGBT equality.

The principles are:

Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

We will not leave any part of our community behind.

Separate is never equal.

Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.

The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.

Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.

Today Guest serves as senior advisor to the Council for Global Equality. In April of this year a Congressional briefing, which was moderated by Guest, was hosted by the LGBT Equality Caucus to mark the release of the US State Department’s annual Human Rights report. The briefing highlighted trends in the LGBT human rights records of the 194 countries reviewed in this year’s report. Members of the international human rights advocacy community and congressional staff attended the briefing.

Guest and his partner Alex reside in Washington.