Dr. Condoleezza Rice completed a six year tenure as Stanford University 's Provost in 1999, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer. As Provost she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students. Among those she served as Provost is Professor Ben Barres. Professor Barres works in the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Biology at Stanford. Professor Barres is also a female-to-male gender crosser.
Could it be that Dr. Rice is okay with people of non-traditional sexuality? Here's a quote, with added emphasis, from the 2002 National Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance: "As our world prevails through these difficult days, and as we pray for peace for all the children of Abraham, it is important to recall not just the Holocaust's horrors, but also its heroes [...] We draw strength from these names - all familiar to our lips - and we gain inspiration from their stories. Less often, we think of the other heroes, the countless ordinary Jews, Roma, Jehovah's Witnesses, gay people, and disabled men and women who defied the machinery of murder with quiet acts of courage and piety. Their names are mostly unknown to all but Him, yet their lives too instruct. "
Condoleezza Rice's personal style was rated highest by gay men (5.3), but gay women were relatively unimpressed (3.5). But whatever queer people think of her, what does she think of queer people? What crosses her mind when her boss talks about an ammendment to the Constitution to issure that the more than 1,000 rights, benefits and responsibilities that are available to married couples remain unavailable to same-sex couples who are denied the right to marry?
Dr. Rice, your boss has already said that since he doesn't read, he relies on you for information about the world. Now is a good time to give him a nudge in the direction of more, not less, civil rights for tax-paying queer citizens of the United States of America.
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