| Topic Name: |
Gays/Lesbians in NCS |
| Message Name: |
not a problem |
| Date Posted: |
03/20/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
Does anyone know what the environment is like for gays and lesbians at the CIA (particularly in the NCS)? I see they have an employee organization (ANGLE -- Agency Network for Gay and Lesbian Employees). I know there were recent changes to the clearance procedures, so sexual orientation is no longer explicitly eliminated as grounds for being denied. But for the sake of discussion, assume we're talking about people who are completely open, and can't be blackmailed because of their orientation. |
| Message: |
This issue came up in my 1 on 1. I figured I might as well lay out everything so to avoid confusion, especially when the issue of "girlfriends" came up. My interviewer told me that he personally had many gay/les friends in the agency. I also heard about a pride parade that happens from time to time... odd.
The only concern was blackmail, as you mentioned, and also the fact that relationships (i.e. two men living together) in the field could be a problem in some countries. However, I don't think it'd be much of a problem in the Middle East... two men holding hands is a pretty common scene. The interviewer told me that the security people would go over everything I should do so to make it not a problem.. so we'll see.
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