Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman told USDA's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Employees Association (GLOBE) Tuesday that he will consider a proposal to pay the relocation expenses of domestic partners of USDA employees. Glickman also said he believes the government eventually will offer benefits to domestic partners of its employees.
Glickman spoke at a USDA Gay and Lesbian Pride Month celebration. He told reporters that the speech marked the second time he had spoken at a GLOBE event. Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy made it a USDA policy not to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation in 1993.
At the event, Glickman received a study by a task force of the USDA Office of Civil Rights about how the situation of gay employees has changed since 1993. In response to questions from the audience, Glickman said he had not had time to study all the recommendations. But he said he would consider several, including one suggesting the payment of relocation expenses for partners and others calling for a "safe space" for gay employees and a plan to broaden USDA's Workplace Violence Prevention and Response Program to address hate crimes.
Glickman acknowledged that USDA's civil rights directors have been "not as sensitive" on issues of sexual orientation as they might be and said they would be trained differently in the future. Glickman directed Assistant Secretary for Administration Paul Fiddick to be in charge of all these initiatives.
Asked whether the Agriculture Department would offer benefits to the domestic partners of its employees, Glickman said he could not take that initiative because it must be done governmentwide through the Office of Personnel Management. But Glickman added that he believes that since the Big Three automakers--General Motors, Chrysler and Ford--announced last week that they will offer domestic partner benefits, eventually the government will follow.
Glickman said he wants all USDA employees "to live a life without fear of harassment and intimidation."
The task force report said USDA "has taken several steps" to implement its nondiscrimination policy, but that the Secretary should "open a dialogue on sexual orientation issues within the department" and designate a member of the USDA's top management team as the "champion" of gay, lesbian and bisexual employees.
The task force also said USDA's Office of Human Resources Management should educate employees on available benefits. A GLOBE paper handed out at the event noted that domestic partners can be made the beneficiaries of Federal Employees Group Life Insurance and Thrift Savings Plan benefits.
Federal GLOBE President Len Hirsch noted at the event that most of the employees present were white male executives, and urged Glickman to make it easier for women, minorities and lower-level employees to be more open about their sexual orientation.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an openly gay member of the House of Representatives, also spoke at the event, saying that gay marriage is not as big an issue as some believe. "Never has anybody said to me, 'Two lesbians moved in down the block and my marriage is at stake,' " Frank said. Frank added that his constituents are more likely to ask him about fisheries or the current surplus of cranberries.