Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners

In a policy shift, the US State Department will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said the shift was spelled out in an internal memorandum Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent last week to an association of gay and lesbian foreign service officers.

Clinton said the policy change addressed an inequity in the treatment of domestic partners and would help the State Department recruit diplomats, since many international employers already offered such benefits, the report said.

“Like all families, our foreign service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our post communities abroad,” Clinton said in the memorandum, a copy of which was provided to The Times by a member of the gay and lesbian association.

“At bottom,” the paper quotes Clinton as saying, “the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it is the right thing to do.”

A senior State Department official confirmed the new policy, but did not say when it would take effect, the paper said.

Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners: report

AFP

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/gay-us-diplom…

Wainwright Plays Down ‘Anti-Gay Marriage’ Comments

Gay singer Rufus Wainwright has denied he refuses to campaign for same-sex marriage – insisting his comments published in a recent interview were “taken out of context”.

Wainwright came under fire from gay rights advocates for quotes

in a New York publication in which the star stated he was “not a huge supporter of gay marriage”.

The singer has reportedly refused to become involved with marching and protesting against the recent passing of Proposition 8 in California – which reversed a previous law permitting same-sex unions.

But Wainwright states he didn’t mean to make a stand against gay marriage – insisting he meant he wouldn’t want to take legally binding vows himself.

He says, “Recently, a quote from an interview was taken out of context and as these things go, it has appeared on many internet sites. So, to set the record straight (or shall we say gay?), I am not nor have I ever been opposed to anyone’s right to marry – straight or gay.

See Wainwright Plays Down ‘Anti-Gay Marriage’ Comments
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