President Barack Obama will reportedly nominate David Huebner, who is openly gay, to be the next U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, according to a report in the Washington Blade.

Huebner is a partner in the law firm Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, and heads the firm’s China practice, specializing  in international arbitration, litigation and China business matters.  He is a graduate of Yale Law School and Princeton University, and a founding national board member of GLAAD.

Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, issued the following statement about Huebner’s nomination:

“Including remarkable people like David Huebner in our country’s diplomatic corps sends a strong message that competence, talent and experience are what matters most, and that sexual orientation should not be a barrier to public service.  The truth is that LGBT people serve America in every branch of government and the military, and they do so because they love their country as much as anyone else.  David Huebner’s nomination is one step further down the path that will one day end in all people being able to serve openly.”

Huebner was a participant in the Presidential Appointments Project, which was established by the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute and supported by a dozen other national LGBT organizations in an effort to increase the number of openly LGBT presidential appointees.  More than 1,600 people have applied through the program to date.