What to binge next? After the 2 minute intro of "I Am The Ambassador," I am hooked.
What turns out to be Rufus Gifford's 40th birthday is the day we meet him in this series recently distributed by Netflix. Ambassador Gifford introduced himself and his partner to Denmark in this August 2013 video.
DR3 followed the US Ambassador Rufus Gifford, for three months. With a background in Hollywood and later as a golden boy for Obama's presidential campaign, Rufus chose to take on work as ambassador to Denmark. Rufus opens the doors to the US Embassy and to his home in Rydhave. Here he lives with his partner Stephen and his dog Argos. With his unconventional and modern approach to diplomacy Rufus fights for human rights and to continue a good working relationship between the United States and Denmark. – simkl.com
Season 1 is 6 episodes and Season 2 is 4 episodes long at about 30 minutes a pop, with the last episode covering the couple's wedding.
Gifford is not the only LGBT Ambassador for the United States and he wasn't the first.
Before Obama's presidency, there had been only two openly gay U.S. ambassadors. The first, James C. Hormel, was nominated by President Bill Clinton as ambassador to Luxembourg in October 1997. Although Hormel was eminently qualified for the post and quickly won approval from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was subjected to an ugly confirmation battle during which he was defamed and belittled by homophobic GOP senators such as Jesse Helms and John Ashcroft. His nomination was effectively blocked by Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who refused to schedule a vote.
Finally, in May 1999, to the outrage of some Republicans, Clinton named Hormel ambassador via a “recess appointment.”
In 2001, to little public controversy, career foreign service officer Michael E. Guest was nominated as ambassador to Romania by President George W. Bush and became the first openly gay ambassadorial nominee confirmed by the Senate. Guest served as ambassador until 2003 and then in the State Department until his retirement in 2007. – thenewcivilrightsmovement.com
If you want to know more about Obama's LGBT Ambassadors, head over to thenewcivilrightsmovement.com where they have great intros and videos covering them all.
Obama has appointed seven openly gay ambassadors:
U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa David Huebner (who served from 2009 to 2014);
U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Daniel Baer;
U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra James Costos;
U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford;
U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James “Wally” Brewster;
U.S. Ambassador to Australia John Berry;
U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius.
Missing from the list is U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg, whom we mentioned most recently in Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Insults Openly Gay US Ambassador.
It'll only take about 5 hours to binge this series. Of course, I'm on episode three right now. I got sucked right in!
