Secretary Clinton to Annouce Same-Sex Family Benefits for State Department Employees

In the category of happy news that is long overdue, it looks like Secretary Clinton is poised to expand the definition of State Department employee “family members” eligible for benefits to include same-sex domestic partners.  For Foreign Service employees those benefits will include –perhaps most important — the issuance of a diplomatic passport (the “black passport”), which carries with it all the protections and immunities of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The VCDR does not define “family” but refers in several places to “family forming part of [the diplomat’s] household,” which appears to include any person deemed to be part of the “family” by the sending state. Though I haven’t researched the question (it would be interesting to hear from those who have), on its face this language could include extended family members (elderly parents) multiple wives (for those states that recognize polygamy) or any other form of “family” as the sending state of the diplomat defines it.

Here’s an excerpt from Secretary Clinton’s internal “draft announcement” of the policy:

While a career in the Foreign Service is rewarding, the demands to serve our country both at home and abroad also require great sacrifice by our Foreign Service personnel and their families as well. Family members often must uproot their lives, endure hardship conditions, and put their own careers on hold. Like all families, our Foreign Service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our Post communities abroad.

Historically, domestic partners of Foreign Service members have not been provided the same training, benefits, allowances, and protections that other family members receive. These inequities are unfair and must end. Providing training, medical care, and other benefits to domestic partners promote the cohesiveness, safety, and effectiveness of our Posts abroad. It will also help the Department attract and retain personnel in a competitive environment where domestic partner benefits and allowances are increasingly the norm for world-class employers. 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.

The Department will be exercising its inherent authority to change its regulations in the Foreign Affairs Manual and Department of State Standardized Regulations to allow the domestic partners of Department Foreign Service personnel to qualify as family members for a variety of benefits and allowances. Where appropriate, this extension of benefits and allowances will apply to the children of domestic partners as well. To qualify for these benefits and allowances, an employee must file an affidavit identifying his or her domestic partner and certifying to certain eligibility requirements that will be set forth in the FAM.

Hat tip to Ben Smith, who also notes that the Defense Department may, in fact, be moving faster on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell than earlier statements indicated.