Baer is one of as many as five openly gay ambassadors that Obama is expected to name in coming weeks, sources say.

The list includes HBO executive James Costos on tap to be named perhaps as early as this week. As we noted recently, Costos and his partner, decorator Michael Smith, bundled more than $1 million for the president’s reelection. Costos, already in the State Department’s training program (called “charm school”), is looking good for Madrid.