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CHRIS JOHNSON
Friday, June 27, 2008
DOJ
Pride,
the
association
for
gay
employees
at
the
Justice
Department,
held
its
first
Pride
event
in
five
years
at
the
department’s
Great
Hall
last
week.
Bush
administration
officials
had
barred
the
celebration
from
taking
place
in
the
Great
Hall
since
2003.
The
event
was
allowed
to
resume
this
year
because
U.S.
Attorney
General
Michael
Mukasey
in
January
revised
the
equal-employment-opportunity
policy
barring
discrimination
in
the
department.
Mukasey
delivered
a
speech
at
the
event
touting
the
inclusiveness
of
the
Justice
Department
toward
gay
employees.
The
attorney
general
said
“men
and
women
of
different
backgrounds,
including
different
sexual
orientations”
comprise
the
lawyers,
law
enforcement
agents
and
other
staff
in
the
Justice
Department.
“The
theme
of
today’s
event
is
‘Pride
is
for
Everyone’
and
it
is
a
theme
I
embrace
because
all
employees
in
the
Justice
Department
have
a
right
to
be
proud
of
who
they
are
and
the
work
they
do
here,”
he
said.
Mukasey
did
not
use
the
word
“gay”
or
the
acronym
“LGBT”
during
his
speech.
The
attorney
general’s
policy
toward
gays
in
the
Justice
Department
workforce
reverses
the
policies
of
previous
Bush
administration
attorneys
general
John
Ashcroft
and
Alberto
Gonzales.
The
former
attorneys
general
barred
DOJ
Pride
from
having
Pride
celebrations
in
the
Great
Hall
without
covering
costs
and
prohibited
the
association
from
posting
notices
of
meetings
on
department
bulletin
boards.
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