Openly Gay Danish Ambassador to Israel

Denmark's new openly gay ambassador to Israel surprised by media attention

Este articulo en español: El Nuevo Embajador, abiertamente gay, de Diamarca en Israel manifiesta sorpresa por la atención que le dan los medios masivos de comunicación

© LIOW-LB/ENKIDU: The next Danish ambassador to Israel, Carsten Damsgaard is openly gay, living in a registrered partnership with his husband, and of course, he will bring his partner with him to his next post. However, this has caused some debate in the Israeli press. The couple has been the topic for a television debate in Israel and the country’s biggest daily newspaper, Yediot also brought a feature article on them. In the article, however, according to Jyllandsposten, a Danish newspaper published in Århus, polical sources were cited, clarifying that the sexual orientation of Mr. Damsgaard and his partnership are no problems at all for anyone.

In Denmark, however, a tiny group of members of a Christian Fundamentalist organisation, Pilgrimskaravanen, [the Pilgrim Caravan], has demonstrated in Copenhagen against the Foreign Ministry, calling the selection of Damsgaard as ambassador, an insult and humiliation of the religious Israeli. Mr Damsgaard will begin his mission in Tel Aviv on September 1 this year. It is expected that this day, the local press will line up in front of the Royal Danish Embassy.

Mr. Damsgaards says himself to Jyllandsposten, that he is surprised that he has received so much attention and that he even was object for a demonstration in Copenhagen. Until the news about the demonstration reached the ministry, nobody there had previously thought about the possibility that the ambassador’s sexual orientation or his partnership could be a problem. He underlines to Jyllandsposten though, that even in Israel he expects to be judged on basis of his work and his abilities, and not because of his sexual orientation.

In Denmark, Damsgaard is a well-known diplomat. For the last 4 years he has been head of the Foreign Ministry’s security office. For the past four years, Damsgaard has worked with issues ranging from Danish-NATO relations, joint EU defence, and Danish participation in international peacekeeping missions. Damsgaard previously served as deputy director for Denmark’s civilian NATO delegation in Brussels, where he and Esben Karmak lived together. The couple’s relationship was noticed in Catholic Belgium, (this was long before Belgium opened its own marriage institution for same sex couples), and they had some problems with the Belgian bureaucracy sometimes, but within the Diplomatic world, it was self evident that both participated as a couple in all contexts.

“I do not believe that the situation will be any different in Israel,” said Carsten Damsgaard, adding that his official invitations will always will be written in the name of the “Ambassador of Denmark and Mr. Esben Karmak.” [ det er Danmarks ambassadør og hr. Esben Karmark, der inviterer].

© ENKIDU /LIOW-LB

Source:

August 5. *

* [If you desire further information about the original sources in Danish, please, send a request to ENKIDU].

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