Michael Guest is all smiles

A few months back, we featured Michael Guest, a former Romanian ambassador who left the U.S. State Department after a long battle over benefits for gay diplomats and their partners. Guest was the first openly gay man appointed by the Senate to be an ambassador, under President Bush, no less. However, after 26 years of service, he left the department, citing its unequal treatment of LGBT employees. Above, you can check out Guest admiring himself on our cover, glass of wine in hand.

On his relationship with Alex:

I had a lot of Foreign Service officers, colleagues, and friends who had advised me not to have Alex [his partner of 12 years] on the dais with me. They said to keep him out in the crowd because it would harm my career. I said, “Look, he’s giving up his job, he’s moving to Bucharest, he's supporting me. How could I not acknowledge him?” Sure, a certain glass ceiling was broken, but more importantly, it was the right thing to do. I was unprepared for the reaction that it got, because in my mind it was so right and so normal.    

Read an excerpt of the interview on Advocate.com.

Comments

[Nicholas]

I was struck both by how understandably vocal Michael Guest was that same-sex couples be extended the privileges of heterosexual couples in the eyes of the State Department, and how his partner declined to even have his full name included in the article.

We are told that Alex was with him on the dais at Guest's confirmation ceremony, and was acknowledged by Colin Powell as Guest's partner, but there's no photo to support that - just one of Powell and Guest.

His partner was referred to as just "Alex," in the article, although a quick Wikipedia search turns up his full name. That seems like conflicting attitudes: a diplomatic post suggests at least a certain amount of visibility for both members of any couple, gay or otherwise, and his partner seems uncomfortable in that role.

I realize that both now have different jobs, and perhaps different needs for visibility, e.g. some security-related jobs require a low profile, but if that is the case, it isn't made clear.

It makes me wonder exactly what their goal as a couple was/is regarding fair treatment. At Alex's current job, does Alex acknowledge Guest as his partner in a gay relationship?

[J]

Alex Nevarez is a school teacher in montgomery county public schools... As a matter of fact he is my spanish teacher, nothing is discussed.