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Obama picks gay ambassador for Australia

Sun 23 Jun 2013 In: International News

John Berry US President Barack Obama has nominated an openly-gay man as ambassador to Australia. John Berry has previously held posts in the Smithsonian Institution, the US Treasury Department and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. As Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the US Department of the Interior, Barry was instrumental in creating a complaint procedure for employees who encounter discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Chad Griffin, president of LGBT rights organization Human Rights Campaign expressed his support in a statement: “John Berry has been a devoted public servant for thirty years, and will bring tremendous experience to our embassy in Canberra. I urge the Senate to confirm his nomination.” In recent weeks Obama has nominated a total of eight openly gay men for ambassadorial posts. New Zealand and Samoa have an openly-gay Ambassador from the US, David Huebner.     

Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff

First published: Sunday, 23rd June 2013 - 1:26pm

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