Posted on 01/12/2002 2:14:54 PM PST by GrandMoM
News headline Retrieved
Gay Ambassador Troubles Embassy Staff
Story: Little attention was drawn to Michael Guest's homosexual relationship with his "partner" during his confirmation process as President Bush's ambassador to Romania. However, those working under Guest in Bucharest now find it difficult to avoid his flaunting of the relationship, according to an American embassy worker who recently spoke with FRC.
Although Guest had been active in a gay and lesbian group within the State Department, he was not publicly identified as being homosexual until his swearing-in on September 18, when Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged Guest's "partner," Alex Nevarez, during the ceremony.
Nevarez, a former teacher, relocated to Romania with Guest and now lives with him there in the residence provided to the ambassador by the U.S. government.
According to our source, several families in the embassy community have expressed concern about the ambassador's living arrangement, and at least one will no longer bring their children to embassy social events because they do not want them exposed to the example set by Guest and his "partner."
For example, Guest and Nevarez escorted one another as a couple at the embassy's annual Marine Corps Ball, a highly formal event. "It's causing me to have to compromise the values I raise my family by," the source said.
The appointment of Guest to serve in Romania showed a particular cultural insensitivity, given that the country is a stronghold of the conservative Eastern Orthodox Church.
Our source indicated that the Orthodox Church is represented at virtually all government ceremonies in Romania. One Romanian professor, in a letter to a Bucharest daily newspaper, said that "Romanians . . . cannot comprehend homosexual acts in any other way but as a deviation from the natural order and the world created by the Lord," and he noted that the Guest appointment "generates bewilderment, indignation, and disgust among the Romanians."
Romanian laws relating to homosexuality were recently liberalized, but only under coercion from the European Union, to which Romania hopes to gain entrance. Although Guest has denied he will promote a "gay agenda" as ambassador, his mere presence in Bucharest is already having that effect.
Another person serving at the embassy held a meeting in November to encourage leaders of Romania's fledgling "gay movement." And some embassy employees fear that Bucharest will gain a reputation as a "gay-friendly" post, so that more homosexuals will request assignment there. Ambassador Guest's treatment of same-sex "partners" (including his own) as the equivalent of married spouses is a mere half step away from government endorsement of "same-sex marriage." Not only does this violate the spirit of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman), but it is also a distraction from the important work of our embassy in Romania.
yep That one was flamed all over the place. On the other hand all the openly gay appointments now get a shrug...says something to me about the difference between basing your politics on a moral belief system as opposed to political allegiances.
I never said that those items which he addressed were wrong. I tried to point out that the consequences of certain behaviors are more pressing than others.
I enjoyed the civil debate with you. See you around. =)
That's your take on it. Personally, I am disgusted that the United States has appointed a sodomite to represent us in Romania.
Your are missing the big picture here. Most Americans do not care if some internally drafted DOS guideline provides cover for the Ambassador to show off his plaything in public. We do care that the President has appointed a sodomite to represent us in Romania.
How far we have fallen. Thomas Jefferson's proposed penal statutes for the State of Virginia called for the death penalty for sodomites. That's right, death. Now we make them Ambassadors. Disgraceful.
Adultry is not a perversion. It is a violation of the bond of trust between a husband and a wife. It is also a violation of the 10 Commandments for Christians and Jews.
Bill Clinton's perversions include rape and having sex with a woman young enough to be his daughter while he held a position of power over her.
If you consider adultry to be a perversion then you must certainly admit that homosexuality is a perversion.
I haven't read the rest of your screed, but I'd like some evidence of this. I've done some reading on his life and, unless you assert that every person who chooses to remain single is a "sodomite," then you might want to provide some evidence here.
? I suppose it's not really my place to comment on it but I don't really grasp how you can support your own church's policy toward sodomites given your opinions.
THe Catholic Church does not preach job discrimination against anyone. The Church disapproves of homosexual PRACTICE, not homosexual ORIENTATION.
Unless you are going to assert that divorcees, men who are shacked up with women, atheists, and other assorted people you don't approve of or who may be sinners according to one religious denomination or another (I mean, some would disapprove of a man who DRINKS being appointed to a high office) should be barred from serving in highly-visible government positions, then you're being hypocritical.
I don't approve of the man's lifestyle, but I dont' approve of Christie Whitman's views on abortion either.
Should practicing gays just not be allowed to work, period?
Well, perhaps we should consider doing so. It is axiomatic in international business that you do not do anything to offend the foreigners with whom you are dealing. Numerous books and articles have been written about this. Otherwise you don't close the deal: it's THAT simple.
Being inoffensive requires "artificial restrictions" insofar as modes of conduct and deportment are called for that are not in one's native idiom. To "be yourself" and act as you would among members of your native cultural community is bad form and bespeaks arrogance and chauvinism. One would think that this is the LAST thing a professional dimplomat would want to do.
But then, WE'RE Americans. We are so much better than everyone else that they'll just have to get used to our superior culture and folkways.
And we wonder why people fly jets into our office buildings.
Gee, might that have something to do with the fact that the Orthodox Church was brutally suppressed in those same countries by their previous Communist governments? Or did you forget about them?
What's the difference between a NON-PRACTICING homosexual and a NON-PRACTICING heterosexual?
I have objection to neither as priests, bishops, or pope.
If they're NON-PRACTICING, how would you know?
Well, since this 'guy' is sashaying into events such as the Marine Ball with his 'partner,' it only stands to reason that he is actively engaging in the practice of the perversion.
We are still permitted to disapprove of the practicing of perversion, aren't we? And, yes, it would be good if more people practiced the same disapproval of adultery, divorce, and other moral failings as well.
You'll have to excuse me, but I don't recall any stories about a US Ambassador escorting his mistress to the Marine Ball.
He was a devout Catholic and, as I said, I've read about his exemplary life.
Otherwise, I have to assume you're getting your information second or third-hand. If so, state that.
Slander is still slander even if the person is not around to defend themselves.
I haven't heard about a gay ambassador escorting his male partner to Marine Ball except via this Family Research Council press release, a press release which also tries to imply that "Romania" is incensed about this guy, when four, unnamed individuals are quoted in the story.
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