It’s official, Dominican Republic has an openly gay U.S. envoy

Santo Domingo.- The new United States Ambassador to Dominican Republic James "Wally" Brewster on Monday presented his credentials to president Danilo Medina, who also welcomed the four other new envoys.

Brewster, accompanied by a delegation headed by U.S. Embassy commercial attaché Daniel L. Foote, presented his credentials at 11am and spoke with Medina for around 10 minutes, in the ceremony attended by vice president Margarita Cedeño and other senior officials.

The new envoys from Colombia, Roberto García, from the Bahamas, Godfrey Gordon, from Portugal, Joao José Gómez, and Godelieve Van Den Bergh, from Belgium also presented their credentials in the National Palace ceremony.

U.S. president Barack Obama’s naming the openly gay Brewster as Ambassador in the conservative nation sparked controversy

When he arrived in the country with his husband Bob J. Satawake November 26, Brewster vowed to work to bolster U.S.-Dominican relations.