Hillary Clinton to Announce Equal Benefits to Gay Diplomats

According to the Washington Post, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to release a memo that will extend equal benefits to gay diplomats and their partners:

The Bush administration had eased some rules, opening up some training to same-sex partners, but had resisted efforts to treat homosexual partners the same as married couples. Thus a wide array of benefits were denied to same-sex partners, such as paid travel to and from overseas posts, employment opportunities at the embassy, visas and diplomatic passports, mail privileges and evacuation in case of a security emergency or medical necessity.

Many of these benefits will now be granted under the policy shift that will be announced by Clinton in the coming days, according to an official with the Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies organization who has seen a draft copy of a memo she plans to issue. The official provided a copy of the memo to The Washington Post.

Bravo, Secretary Clinton. This is unquestionably a good thing, and the country will be better off after these changes than before them.

Still, when I read news accounts that talk about "granting" rights to gay people, it makes me wince a little. It takes a special kind of arrogance to dole out to others those things which you, yourself, take for granted. The way I see it, "We, the People," aren't granting anything, but rather, recognizing rights that we were, heretofore, violating.

According to WaPo, Hillary had this to say in the memo:

In the memo, Clinton said: "At bottom, the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex domestic partners because it is the right thing to do."

Here's hoping that this philosophy soon translates to other parts of our government.

Tommy on: Daily Dose:

• • How to Miss the White House Briefing and Still Salvage Your Day
  • Absurd Photo of the Day: Chuck Schumer is HUGE!
  • President Obama's Speech on National Security: Post-Speech Analysis
• Comedy Central and Tommy Christopher in Feud
• Obama's attempt to block photo release: Good idea, bad idea?