Peace Corp Recruiting Catalog Features Gay Testimonial

For the first time, Peace Corps’ Recruiting Catalog features a testimonial from a distinguished gay RPCV. This latest edition has just been released. Ryan Wertz served as a Rural Youth Development Volunteer in The Philippines, 1989-1990 and as an Agro-Forestry Volunteer in Panama, 1990-1994. His testimonial: “People often ask me if being gay made it more difficult to serve in the Peace Corps. In all honesty, I don’t think that it did. In many of the countries where Volunteers serve, there is little tolerance for sexual diversity. All Peace Corps Volunteers need to respect the cultural norms of the people they are assigned to serve. I did not need to give up who I was as a person in order to be a successful Volunteer. However, I did need to balance my own identity with the belief systems of the people for whom I worked.”