Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry issued a formal apology Monday to anyone who was discriminated against by the State Department “on the basis of perceived sexual orientation.”
“These actions were wrong then, just as they would be wrong today,” Kerry said Monday. “On behalf of the Department, I apologize to those who were impacted by the practices of the past and reaffirm the Department’s steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion for all our employees, including members of the LGBTI community.”
Kerry touted his record in appointing a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons in 2015, but emphasized that this was a break with past State Department policy. “In the past — as far back as the 1940s, but continuing for decades — the Department of State was among many public and private employers that discriminated against employees and job applicants on the basis of perceived sexual orientation, forcing some employees to resign or refusing to hire certain applicants in the first place,” he said.
Federal policy on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation snarled up the congressional appropriations process over the summer, after President Obama issued an executive order barring private contractors that take government contracts from considering sexual orientation or gender identity in their hiring practices. Republican lawmakers opposed that order, saying that it would impinge on the religious liberty of the federal contractors.
“Just because a Catholic charity, for example, decides to do work for the federal government should not mean the charity must begin hiring individuals who do not share the charity’s religious mission,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in November.
