Kimberly Zieselman named advisor to special U.S. envoy for LGBTQ, intersex rights – Washington Blade
A law that extended marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples in Switzerland took effect on July 1, 2022, three days before the Fourth of July. Scott Miller, the openly gay U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, on that day noted the marriage and adoption equality law in a speech that marked the Fourth of July.
“The Swiss constitution states, ‘the Swiss Confederation shall … ensure the greatest possible equality of opportunity among its citizens.’ This is a powerful statement which acknowledges equality as one of the most basic principles of democracy,” said Miller. “Today, this is especially true as we celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage and the right of adoption.”
“Tim (Gill) and I know very acutely what it means when a government, and the rest of the citizens of a country, say you are entitled to the same rights and benefits to live happily in love who you love,” added Miller. “So, I am immensely … immensely proud that we get to celebrate our Independence Day on this historic day in Switzerland.”
Miller, whose husband, Tim Gill, founded the Gill Foundation, assumed his post last December after the U.S. Senate confirmed him. Miller is one of seven openly gay and lesbian American ambassadors.
Miller on Sept. 23 told the Washington Blade during an interview in D.C. that his Fourth of July speech “was perhaps one of the more meaningful aspects of my ambassadorship so far.”
“I talked about the expansion of rights and our work to make a more perfect union,” he noted. “Tying that to equality was, I think, one of the most profound moments of this experience thus far.”
Miller spoke at first Liechtenstein Pride in June
Miller was previously an account vice president of the Switzerland-based UBS Wealth Management bank in Denver. Miller also co-chaired the Gill Foundation’s board of directors until the U.S. Senate confirmed his ambassadorship.
Miller while in D.C. attended the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference at the State Department and visited the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Miller also attended Elton John’s performance at the White House that took place hours after he spoke with the Blade.
Miller noted he has known President Joe Biden “from when he was a senator, and my work with him started on LGBTQ rights.”
“Needless to say, when he called last April I was shocked,” said Miller, referring to Biden’s decision to nominate him for the ambassadorship. “I had never really considered that as a possibility.”
Biden in February 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy.
Miller said his embassy has “a depth of relationships with the LGBTQ community and activists and organizations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.”
Liechtenstein, a small and predominantly Roman Catholic country that has yet to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, in June held its first-ever Pride event. Miller was among those who organizers invited to speak.
“It will be a discussion that I think activists will have to work on a lot,” he said, referring to marriage equality efforts in Liechtenstein. “I will support (them) in any way I can.”
Miller said he was not surprised that Biden issued the foreign policy memo, but he added he “knew coming into this where his heart was on LGBTQI+ issues.”
“I didn’t really need a memo or any directive from the State Department,” Miller told the Blade. “I’m the president’s personal envoy. To know that I am going to be able to continue the same work that I was doing and have this different platform and help people improve lives, there’s a profound responsibility with that.”
“I’m glad obviously that it’s been further directed to my other colleagues, but it was work that I was doing,” he added.
Countries that seek to curtail LGBTQ rights ‘an outlier’
Miller spoke with the Blade against the backdrop of efforts in Hungary, Poland and other European countries to curtail LGBTQ and intersex rights. Giorgia Meloni, the anti-LGBTQ and intersex head of Italy’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, is poised to become the country’s next prime minister after general elections that took place on Sept. 25.
“I’m so entirely focused on Switzerland and I’m lucky that we are in a position of stepping forward and advancing rights and extending more rights to people,” said Miller. “There will always be a push pull on any civil rights costs. We see that even in our own country here as it relates to women’s reproductive rights, and disability rights. So ultimately, I look at this sense that progress will be made. It won’t always be linear, and it won’t always be without taking a step backwards at time.”
“This is where leadership matters and to have my president, our president, be a leader on this sends a message to those other countries that you’re going to be an outlier in the eyes of democracy if this is how you treat a portion of your community,” he added. “That’s the messaging we need to continue to spread, but obviously it’s an immense concern whenever you have a leader starting to single out any individual part of a society.”
Miller also praised the Swiss government’s response to the war in Ukraine.
He noted Switzerland adopted EU sanctions against Russia days after the war began on Feb. 24. Miller also pointed out Switzerland has welcomed Ukrainian refugees into the country, and his embassy has worked to process visas that would allow them to travel to the U.S.
“Europe’s response has been good, and Switzerland’s has been good, but again the leadership of the United States on this issue has brought us closer together with Europe in a way that I hadn’t experienced in my lifetime,” said Miller.