Oct 13, 2006  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

As First Lady Laura Bush stood behind her, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice administered the oath of office on Oct. 10 to gay physician Mark Dybul as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, a post that has the rank of ambassador.

In a ceremony held at the State Department’s historic Benjamin Franklin Room, Dybul placed his hand on a Bible held by his domestic partner, Jason Claire. Dybul’s parents and Claire’s mother stood nearby as Dybul became the nation’s third openly gay ambassador.

“I am truly honored and delighted to have the opportunity to swear in Mark Dybul as our next Global AIDS Coordinator,” Rice said. “I am pleased to do that in the presence of Mark’s parents, Claire and Richard, his partner, Jason, and his mother-in-law, Marilyn,” she said.

“You have a wonderful family to support you, Mark, and I know that’s always important to us. Welcome,” Rice said.

In remarks following the swearing-in, Laura Bush noted that Dybul will oversee President Bush’s $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a widely acclaimed program backed by AIDS activists and approved by Congress as part of an aggressive U.S. effort to fight AIDS in developing countries.

“I know you’ll bring great skill and enthusiasm to the fight against AIDS,” Laura Bush said. “Congratulations, ambassador.”

President Bush nominated Dybul for the global AIDS post earlier this year. The Senate voted unanimously to confirm the appointment on Aug. 3.

Dybul, a nationally recognized expert on AIDS care and prevention, had been serving as acting Global AIDS Coordinator since January, when Bush appointed his predecessor, pharmaceutical industry executive Randall Tobias, as head of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Rice’s public recognition of Jason Claire as Dybul’s domestic partner and her reference to Claire’s mother as Dybul’s “mother-in-law” is certain to delight gay activists while raising the eyebrows of conservative Christian leaders.

Some conservative Christian groups raised objections when former Secretary of State Colin Powell held a similar swearing-in ceremony in 2001 for Michael Guest, a gay foreign service officer whom Bush appointed as U.S. ambassador to Romania. Like Rice, Powell recognized Guest’s domestic partner, who also held a Bible as Powell administered the oath of office.

President Clinton appointed San Francisco gay businessman and philanthropist James Hormel as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, marking the first time any U.S. president appointed an openly gay person to an ambassadorial post.

Among those attending Dybul’s swearing-in ceremony was Dr. Anthony Faucci, director of the National Institutes of Health’s AIDS program division and one of the nation’s leading AIDS researchers. Tobias also attended the event.

“The fight to eradicate AIDS is really one of the great moral callings of our time,” Rice said. “Mark is the right person to carry on this great program and this great cause,” she said.

“He brings, of course, a deep commitment to the role from his years in public service and in public health,” Rice said. “He studied AIDS as a researcher and as a doctor, and he’s gained a full understanding of the virus.”

Laura Bush praised Dybul for his “creativity” and “innovation” in government AIDS programs. Dybul previously worked at the NIH’s AIDS division under Faucci.

“Mark has already made a huge difference as acting, deputy, and assistant Global AIDS Coordinator,” she said.

“I’ve seen the results of his work as I’ve visited PEPFAR projects around the world — from a program in Russia that helps HIV-positive children lead healthy lives, to South Africa’s Mothers to Mothers-to-Be program, which helps HIV-positive pregnant women deliver babies free of HIV,” Bush said.

A State Department spokesperson, Kristen Pugh, said the swearing-in ceremony took place this week — two months after the Senate confirmed Dybul — because scheduling conflicts prevented Secretary Rice and Mrs. Bush from being able to attend the event.