Secretary Clinton to Address LGBT State Department Employees

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will headline the 20^th anniversary celebration for the State Department’s affinity group for LGBT employees Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

Clinton will deliver remarks to the group, Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. GLIFAA advocates for hundreds of members and associates employed by the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, the Foreign Agricultural Service, the Foreign Commercial Service, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and all foreign affairs units of the U.S. government, according to a media advisory from the State Department.

“Today, under the leadership of Secretary Clinton, LGBT employees at the State Department and their families have a level of benefits and recognition never before seen in foreign affairs agencies of the U.S. government,” said the advisory. “Most notably, Secretary Clinton is responsible for the extension of the full range of legally available benefits and allowances to same-sex domestic partners of Foreign Service members serving overseas. She also instituted the 2010 revision of the Department’s equal employment opportunity policy to prohibit discriminatory treatment of employees and job applicants based on gender identity.”

Other speakers at the event will include counselor and chief of staff Cheryl Mills, deputy administrator Donald Steinberg, and Ken Kero-Mentz, the GLIFAA president. Congressman David Cicilline, GLIFAA co-founder David Buss, and Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer will also participate. 

Check back for updates on Clinton's remarks.

Image via Getty.

Follow SheWired on Facebook. 

Follow SheWired on Twitter.