James Brewster - Good Riddance! Don't Come Back!

[TropicalPaul]

Well they say that Britain and America are two cultures divided by the same language, and reading some of the comments on here I completely agree. I think if the UK had a gay ambassador in Dominican Republic nobody would notice, nor comment, on his sexuality. London has a Muslim mayor and the UK has a female Prime Minister and I don't think anyone noticed until the US started pointing this out. We've moved with the times. Some of the people commenting on here should really try to do the same.

Fine to say Brewster was useless for his policies. But if you find the fact that he was a gay man and married to another man offensive, then you really ought to question your own beliefs, not his. If you had a disabled ambassador, would it be wrong for him to appear in a wheelchair? Or are you of the belief that any disabled ambassador would also be a disgrace? What about if he had been, dare I say it, black? Does anyone honestly believe that Donald Trump will somehow be respected more on the world stage than Obama just because he is white? Come on really?

Brewster didn't need to be ashamed because he was homosexual. He didn't need to hide his sexuality or pretend he was something else. By appearing at an event with the person that he was married to, he wasn't "shoving his sexuality down anyone's throat", unless you believe that a heterosexual man and his wife appearing together would be doing the same.

I am gay and have lived in DR for a number of years, and I chose the country because it is so gay friendly and welcoming. People accept you as you are. Most Dominicans are so worried about money that they don't seem to care much about anything else, and I've found them welcoming of difference. Even gay Dominicans don't have a hard time, at least not compared to how I imagine things would be in the US.

As I have commented before, if this were a forum in the UK and people posted some of the homophobic comments they have posted on here, it would be illegal and the police could get involved. Please people get something positive from the Brewster experience, question why you do find the idea of a married man attending an event with his partner so offensive, and try to move some of your beliefs into the 21st century.

 

[Meemselle]

He was, for better or for worse, the American ambassador. He then embodies American values.

I am American.

 

[SantiagoDR]

He was, for better or for worse, the American ambassador. He then embodies American values.

I am American.

.

You?re an American, you?ll still be an American, for better or worse!

 

[sanpedrogringo]

@TropicalPaul:
Of course Wally had no reason to be ashamed of his own personal decision on how he chooses to live his life, and that is not the direction of my sentiments. But yes, he did take his own personal direction way over the top, which was an embarrassment for his position. Again, out of our hands, Dominicans here were humored by it and found it a little bizarre, Dominicans living abroad were insulted. We're walking a fine line here because we need to stay on point with this being a DR related topic, as the powers that be wish and is respected, but Wally was a farce. Not because he is a homosexual male, but because of how he represented the position. Bringing his husband to "public" events was not a problem, as all ambassadors (usually) attend with their spouses. Public events. Not official business meetings. How many ambassadors bring their wives with them to "official" business meetings, not just the social events? This is just one example of Wally shaking his tailfeather in the nose of the Dominican government. Do you really think anybody took him seriously? Again, not because he is gay, but he made a parody out of the office. By the way, who is the British ambassador to DR? Or the Italian amassador? Or the Canadian ambassador? Exactly. Because they do their jobs correctly without making themselves or their personal objectives bigger than the position they hold.

 

[sanpedrogringo]

He was, for better or for worse, the American ambassador. He then embodies American values.

I am American.

He did not and does not embody American values. As mentioned above, and unfortunately is usually the case, he was a major $ campaign supporter and fundraiser to Obama. Nothing more, nothing less. He bought himself a nice extended vacation with his hubby in a warm, tropical climate on the American taxpayers dime.

 

[Meemselle]

Post deleted by moderator

 

[sanpedrogringo]

Post deleted by moderator

 

[LTSteve]

"There is a level of tolerance there that is lacking in the US."
??????????
Are you kidding me? And where would you find this tidbit of information? On CNN with Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon, both of whom are on prime time nightly and are homosexual? The last I checked I've yet to see any other country that bends over backwards more to accommodate the Lesbian/Gay (all the other initials are downright silly now) community, than the USA. Have there been crimes of violence towards this group? Yes. And it's very unfortunate. As are all crimes. But in the big picture they are minimal. There is no war on gays and lesbians in the USA, nor here in the Dominican Republic. Crime is a fact of life, and criminals should be punished. Should a criminal be punished less severely if he attacks a straight person? Newsflash!!!!! In the USA he is. These harsh feelings towards Wally with the Orange Hair are not because he was homosexual. Good for him. It stems from him being a downright embarrassment as an ambassador to a foreign country. Pool party anybody?

Can we form a congo line? i'm in baby!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AlterEgo]

This thread is about Ambassador Brewster and DR. *No more mention of the US election or US politics will be tolerated.*

 

[sanpedrogringo]

Could have seen that coming from a mile away. Spankings all around.

 

[bob saunders]

He was, for better or for worse, the American ambassador. He then embodies American values.

I am American.

.

One can't control their place of birth, however I was of the mistaken idea that you were born in the DR. The next Ambassador will also embody American values but perhaps have different take on American values. As Ted Cruz said " NY values " An ambassador is supposed to be diplomatic, hopefully the next one will be.

 

[mofongoloco]

Met the soon to be ex-Ambassador at a social gathering. He was pleasant to speak with but did not come off as someone who was interested in or participating in diplomatic relations between the US and the DR. It seemed he kind of looked at his time in the DR as an extended Caribbean vacation. Just my opinion after the brief encounter.

How many shrimp did you have? were they large, jumbo or colossal?

 

[the gorgon]

One can't control their place of birth, however I was of the mistaken idea that you were born in the DR. The next Ambassador will also embody American values but perhaps have different take on American values. As Ted Cruz said " NY values " An ambassador is supposed to be diplomatic, hopefully the next one will be.

bob, i think you mean a different constellation of values than the ones apparent in Brewster. so, tell us how you think it will go over if the incoming ambassador elects to impose a kind of free market orthodoxy on the Dominican *thinking, which suggests that poor people are responsible for their suffering, and that they do not deserve a safety net. tell us how you think that would go over.

 

[KyleMackey]

I hope they find competent people to clean the pool,

 

[bob saunders]

bob, i think you mean a different constellation of values than the ones apparent in Brewster. so, tell us how you think it will go over if the incoming ambassador elects to impose a kind of free market orthodoxy on the Dominican *thinking, which suggests that poor people are responsible for their suffering, and that they do not deserve a safety net. tell us how you think that would go over.

You are stating what " you " think are the values of the incoming administration. An ambassador is not supposed to impose anything on the country he is in, only represent and present the interests of the USA, in a diplomatic way. You are making a lot of assumptions.

 

[Garyexpat]

He was, for better or for worse, the American ambassador. He then embodies American values.

I am American.

.

I disagree that because someone is an ambassador from the states, or any country for that matter necessarily embodies the values of said country. If I didn't have such a work load today I would spend some time finding the most outrageous examples.

 

[AlterEgo]

I can see I erred by not editing the posts that took this thread OT and onto American election/politics.

I've cleaned it up, and there will be no more warnings given.

 

[CristoRey]

He was, for better or for worse, the American ambassador. He then embodies American values.

I am American.

I am American as well and I disagree with this statement.

 

[AlterEgo]

Lest there be any doubt, DR1 has rules, and if broken there are consequences.*

It's not fair that threads get closed due to the inability of some to take warnings seriously. *

Anyone who has a problem with any moderator should feel free to contact Robert.*

 

[TropicalPaul]

I am still struggling to get a take on what exactly Brewster did that was so wrong, other than to let the world know he was a gay man and try to advance the LGBT agenda in DR. I got the impression that, other than the church, Dominicans living here were not too horrified by him doing this, the furore seemed to come from Dominican Yorkers and from US citizens living here who thought he was an embarrassment because he was openly gay.

Honestly such behaviour is considered normal for other countries which gay ambassadors. I had to Google how many UK ambassadors are gay because, honestly, I don't think having a gay ambassador would bother 90% of the UK population. David Quarrey is Israel is married to his husband, both were presented to President Rivlin in 2015 and both are actively involved in supporting gay projects in the country, this is on the British government's website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/world...vid-quarrey-hosts-lgbt-young-leaders-from-igy

If Brewster has done one positive thing, it is to demonstrate how warm and friendly the majority of Dominicans are to gay men and how as a society they are largely welcoming of difference. I love how Dominicans respect older people and how they all go out of their way to help someone in a wheelchair for example.

So other than things to do with his being gay, what did he do that was so wrong?