Calls to remove gay U.S. ambassador to D.R. spark controversy

U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, James Brewster. (Source: PresidenciaRD/flickr)

The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday voiced its support of gay U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James Brewster amid calls by Dominican evangelicals to remove him from his post. In this predominantly Catholic country, many bishops have been incensed by public appearances of Brewster alongside his husband Bob Satawake and his alleged promotion of a “homosexual agenda.” A group of Dominican intellectuals and religious leaders in January urged President Danilo Medina and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to declare Brewster “persona non grata” because of a U.S.-backed education initiative they contend seeks “to turn our adolescents gay.”

This invective from Dominican church officials began as soon as news arrived of Brewster’s nomination in July 2013, when the Archbishop of Santo Domingo called him a “maricón” (faggot) and a “wife” at a press conference. “I hope he does not arrive in the country because I know if he comes he is going to suffer and will have to leave,” Bishop Nicolás de Jesús López Ridríguez declared.

Nor has the rhetoric died down any since Brewster arrived in the country in November 2013. In fact, on March 8 a petition was posted to the White House’s website to “Remove the Ambassador of USA in Dominican Republic for promoting an LGBT agenda inconsistent with country’s values.” (The next day, a rival petition to keep Brewster was posted, although it has only received 10% of the signatures of the removal petition.)

Brewster and Satawake have been prominent supporters of LGBT causes in the D.R. According to the Washington Blade:

The two men earlier this month attended the official launch of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s affiliate in the Dominican Republic. Brewster and Satawake took part in a Pride parade in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo last year. The U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic also supports a tourism campaign with the Center for Integrated Training and Research, a Dominican HIV/AIDS service organization, that seeks to expand economic opportunities for LGBT Dominicans.

Brewster has rejected calls for his departure, and in fact said the backlash that he continues to experience has prompted more Dominicans to “support the marginalized.”

Some have questioned the diplomatic strategy behind the initial selection of Brewster for an ambassadorship in a predominantly Catholic country, where the current homophobic backlash was possible, if not probable. However, at this point, the U.S. will stand behind its man, as a matter of principle. On March 11, National Security Advisor Susan Rice stated “He has the full support of this President, this White House and the entire U.S. government and I know he will continue to advocate tirelessly for the interests of the United States in the Dominican Republic.”

And even though he’s being barraged by personal insults, Brewster himself noted, “It’s a great social conversation that needed to happen and I think it’s happening now.”