First Openly Gay State Department Spokesperson Sends International Message, Advocates Say

The appointment of openly gay Ned Price as State Department Spokesperson sends a pro-LGBTQ signal to the rest of the world, according to ABC News.

Price spent over a decade in the CIA and served for three years as National Security Council spokesperson under President Obama. However, prices appointment has come with very little fanfare – arguably because of his background and service, and because it appears to be another in President Biden's attempt to fill his administration with diversity. Price himself said to ABC News,

"The point that the Secretary [of State, Anthony J. Blinken] has made and that President Biden himself has made is that we need a national security workforce that looks like the country we represent, and that's especially important for the Department of State that's speaking to rest of world. Both in our word and our deed, our values of inclusiveness and strength in diversity will be on full display. Representation matters."

Michael Guest, the first openly gay diplomat confirmed by the Senate and served as diplomat to Romania under President George W. Bush, said "The average LGBT person [around the world] ... probably won't even know necessarily that someone in that position is gay because our country has come a long way in recognizing that is one factor in many in how a person is made up.

Guest, who most recently worked on the Biden transition, adds, "but the fact that no one is precluded from rising to that level of a government agency will be like a penny dropping on many countries – that we are, in fact, back to the country that they'd like to see theirs emulate."

So while it would appear that the appointment of an openly gay man to a high level position in the current administration is perhaps not a big deal, it does send a message to the rest of the world about LGBTQ equality – a message that activists elsewhere say needs to be backed up with support and policies. Amir Ashour, an activist in Iraq who founded the country's first and only LGBTQ advocacy group, IraQueer, said, "The last four years, the fight for LGBT+ rights has been much harder because of the U.S.'s absence. It empowered conservative governments like the Iraqi government to crack down even more on LGBT+ citizens.

"But while we're very excited to see this shift in the U.S. government, Price's appointment won't mean much for LGBT+ people in countries like Iraq unless the U.S. foreign policy and immigration laws actively protect LGBT+ people."

Nigerian LGBTQ rights activist and author Innanoshe Richard Akuson concurs, "It's incredibly important for queer people in countries where homosexuality and queerness is a death sentence."

Akuson, who suffered a homophobic attack in his Nigerian hometown and sought asylum in the U.S. in 2018, adds that "hopefully this will be the beginning of a more humane and kinder approach to LGBTQ people from all around the world who are desperate for refuge."

As ABC notes, LGBTQ rights advocates are calling for the strengthening of the asylum system, especially after the Trump administration raised the burden of proof for those seeking asylum in the U.S. Secretary Blinken has also promised to appoint an envoy for LGBTQ human rights – as ABC states, "a role created by the Obama administration and shuttered under Trump." Blinken has also said that embassies will be able to fly Pride flags, which was prohibited by his predecessor Mike Pompeo.