President Barack Obama on Friday
nominated two openly gay ambassadors.
Obama named James Costos to be
ambassador to Spain and Rufus Gifford to be ambassador to Denmark.
The nominations come less than a week after the president named
Daniel Baer, who is also gay, to be ambassador to the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The nominations of Costos and Gifford
were announced along with four additional posts.
“It gives me great confidence that
such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this
Administration to serve the American people,” Obama said in a
statement. “I look forward to working with them in the months and
years to come.”
Gifford raised upwards of $700 million
as Obama's 2012 finance director. Costos is an executive at premier
cable network HBO.
According to The Washington Post,
Obama will name two more openly gay ambassadors in the coming weeks.
They include hedge fund manager James “Wally” Brewster and former
Office of Personnel Management director John Berry.