The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously
confirmed the nomination of James “Wally” Brewster, Jr. to be
ambassador to the Dominican Republic, making him the fifth openly gay
ambassador to be confirmed this year.
Brewster, a senior managing partner for
SB&K Global in Chicago and a national LGBT co-chair for the
Democratic National Committee (DNC), was named in June by President
Barack Obama.
“I was proud to support Wally
Brewster's confirmation to be the next U.S. ambassador to the
Dominican Republic, and I am pleased that my colleagues in the Senate
unanimously agree,” Illinois Senator Dick Durbin said in a
statement.
“All of us at Victory are delighted
by this news,” Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay &
Lesbian Victory Fund, said in a
blog post. “Wally's confirmation makes a powerful statement
for the opportunity that LGBT Americans have to promote understanding
and inspire respect on the world stage.”
Several Dominican leaders have publicly
opposed Brewster's nomination.
Jim Musa, spokesman for the National
Conference of Young Evangelicals, told
reporters in August that that Brewster walking down the streets
of Santo Domingo with his husband would constitute a form of passive
activism which he called “dangerous” because it could normalize
the marriages of gay people.
Others opposed include Catholic
Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, who
mockingly called Brewster a “faggot” in Spanish, and Monsenor
Pablo Cedano, who told the AP, “If he arrives, he'll suffer and be
forced to leave.”
The other openly gay ambassadors
confirmed this year are Daniel Baer (OSCE), John Berry (Australia),
James Costos (Spain) and Rufus Gifford (Denmark).