[5] He joined the United States Foreign Service in 1993,[6] serving as a diplomat in Nepal, Bangladesh, Egypt, South Africa, and Uganda.

"[7] In his first year as Special Envoy, Berry traveled to 42 countries in an effort to ensure that LGBTI persons everywhere are afforded equal rights under the law.

[4] He also argued that police resources in repressive homophobic societies like Uganda, infamous for its Kill the Gays bill, should be redirected towards combatting terrorism, not harassing their LGBTI citizens.

[4] Berry's 2015 meeting with Vatican officials from the Holy See's Secretary of State office garnered significant media attention given that the Catholic Church's holds the position that gay and lesbian sexual behavior a sin and restricts marriage to unions of one man and one woman.

Berry addressed questions about his engagement at the Vatican by clarifying that "We were not there to talk about issues of civil unions or same-sex marriage, for example, because that is not part of our policy."

During that briefing, he said that one of his major priorities for the coming year would be to combat anti-LBGTI violence around the world and that the State Department "will work" with other branches of the U.S. Government, including the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as "other agencies to leverage opportunities to reduce and prevent violence, share best practices and challenges and provide technical resources where we can.

[11] Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, called the appointment "a disappointing development" and said that "Keeping Berry only signals to the world that the extreme agenda of the Obama years is still deeply entrenched in the State Department".

[12] The conservative Family Research Council had made removing such "activists" a priority and as recently as December called on the State Department to rid itself of employees who promote an "anti-family, anti-life agenda.