It is always nice to see the British government being much more open-minded than they used to be when it comes to the LGBTQ community.
In the latest case, it is with the news the openly gay Mark Gooding OBE has been appointed as the new British Ambassador to Thailand.
He and his husband, Dr. Christopher McCormick, are already in Thailand where Gooding started his Ambassador role earlier this month.
It isn’t just nice the British government chose an openly gay man as the country’s new Ambassador to Thailand, however, but also that they chose someone who is not only well-qualified but intelligent as well.
Especially if you consider Ambassador Gooding has a Master’s Degree in Modern Languages from Oxford University, and that he speaks six languages — his own native English, plus Thai, Mandarin Chinese, French, German and Spanish.
In other words, he is someone who obviously believes in the importance of communicating with non-native English speakers in their own language.
Before beginning his new role as Ambassador to Thailand, Gooding was the British Ambassador to Cambodia from 2011 to 2013, Minister Counsellor (Political) at the British Embassy in Beijing and British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, among other Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posts he has held.
Ambassador Gooding was also Director Covid (Repatriations) before his role as British Ambassador to Thailand.
Something that may come in useful during Thailand’s current Covid-19 crisis.