From: Sorrento95@aol.com Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 13:30:39 EST Subject: Attached Text: Boren Article Attached is the plain text of my article which was published in the January 2000 issue of Magnus, a San Francisco publication. [...] ~ Michael Wright SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE GAY CLOSETS OF POWER by Michael Phillip Wright (Copyright 1999 by the author, all rights reserved) In July 1993, the Austin gay publication Texas Triangle reported an effort by Queer Nation activist Michael Petrelis to "out" US Senator David Boren of Oklahoma as gay. Petrelis was of the opinion that Boren had sexually abused male staff members. "The only problem with the outing was lack of proof," wrote Bob Roehr. "He hadn't talked directly with anyone who had claimed to have been harassed or had sex with Boren." Additionally, Roehr reported Petrelis' claim that Boren was the individual described only as "the Legislator" in Michelangelo Signorile's book Queer In America. Male staff members employed by the Legislator, who held federal office, had been promised confidence by Signorile after describing episodes of sexual harassment. Roehr informed readers that Signorile would neither confirm nor deny that Boren was the Legislator responsible for the misconduct. The Legislator was reported to have invited male staff members to his home when his wife was away, served them alcohol, and made aggressive sexual advances. One staff member, given the pseudonym "Keith" by Signorile, was harassed on twelve different occasions before he finally resigned. Although this victim was gay, he did not find the Legislator to be sexually attractive. New circumstances justify a fresh inspection of available literature about Boren, who resigned his Senate seat two years before its expiration and later accepted the Presidency of the University of Oklahoma (OU). First, several websites indicate Boren's interest in being offered the Reform Party nomination for President of the U.S. According to currently available information, Boren has told Party activists that he "would not seek the nomination but would accept a draft nomination in 2000." A Reform Party Committee to Draft Boren has constructed a website (www.boren2000.org). The Draft Boren website reports that the former Senator is a good friend of Reform Party founder Ross Perot, who had encouraged Boren to run as the Party's 1996 presidential nominee. It explains that Boren declined at that time because, having just accepted the OU presidency, he had promised the people of Oklahoma that he would not "jump right back into politics." In 1998 Perot expressed "hope that Boren would re-enter public life." Also noteworthy is the 1995 publication of The Price of Achievement, a book by gay writer and Tufts University Professor W. Scott Thompson, who was a member of the same Rhodes Scholar group as Boren. In his book, Thompson bears direct witness to one side of the confirmation which was lacking in 1993. "I was aware that David [Boren] was gay before I was aware of my own homosexuality," he writes, "and our scout confirmed it. . . his homosexuality was never too far from the surface." Thompson also mentions "rumors of trouble with pageboys at the Oklahoma capitol"(during Boren's term as a state legislator), and believes that Boren's surprise 1994 resignation from his US Senate seat was "almost surely prompted" by fears of "a deeper degree of outing." Thompson mentions "reasonably well-attested stories of continued gay imbroglios on Capitol Hill," but does not provide any first-hand accounts from male victims claiming to have been sexually harassed by Boren. Nonetheless he does make one statement which is very significant in the eyes of those familiar with Signorile's book. He says that Boren was referred to "implicitly" in Queer In America. With these words, Thompson is hinting strongly to readers that Boren is guilty of sexually harassing male Senate staff members. Thompson believes that Boren would have served the gay cause well had he chosen to come out publicly before assuming the OU presidency. In doing so, he writes, Boren "would have established a political high-water mark for homosexuality." He adds, "I doubt at that point he would have endangered his political standing in Oklahoma, as if anything could have." But would Oklahomans have tolerated sexual harassment by a powerful gay politician? That is a different question, and before judging Boren's culpability on this, the discriminating reader should study Signorile's section on the Legislator. The ethical obligation to protect the confidentiality of individuals reporting episodes of sexual abuse prevented Signorile from identifying him. Was it Boren? The question can be explored by comparing events Signorile reports in the Legislator's life to events known to have taken place in Boren's. Staff member Keith was 32 years old in 1993, the year the book was published. Estimating his birth year at 1961, he was 13 in 1974, the year Boren first ran for Governor after earlier service as a legislator. This matches Signorile's report that Keith, in his early teens, campaigned for the Legislator's first race for a state- wide seat. Signorile's Legislator was making his first race for a federal office when Keith was in high school. This is consistent with the fact that Boren made his first US Senate race and was elected in 1978, when Keith was 17. Of great interest is the fact that during this race the Legislator held a press conference to deny a rumor that he was a closeted homosexual. As any Oklahoman who followed politics in the decade knows, that is exactly what David Boren did in 1978. Taking an oath on a white Bible, he swore that he was straight. The match on the press conference and accusation of homosexuality would be enough to create strong suspicion that the Legislator was indeed Boren. But there is more. The Legislator supported the Supreme Court nomination of both Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, as did Boren. The Legislator was reported to be a married man with children at the time of the 1978 Senate race. In 1978 Boren was married to his second wife Molly Shi, and had children by a previous marriage. Thompson writes that Boren engaged in "anti-homosexual rhetoric from time to time." Signorile writes that the Legislator supported antigay and AIDS-phobic bills by Jesse Helms and others. Thus, there are matches for all events in the Legislator's life which can be compared to events known to have taken place in Boren's life. Lacking direct statements from male victims of sexual harassment, there is not the quality of evidence sufficient to justify a conviction on a charge of sexual abuse in a court of law. But we are not operating in a criminal court. Boren is a public figure with a national reputation and a long history of holding offices of public trust. Internet websites mentioned earlier indicate that, at the very least, he has not altogether renounced ambitions for higher office. On the basis of published materia ls discussed in this article, it is appropriate that he be judged in the court of public opinion. In that court, readers are free to review the information, connect the dots in their minds, and draw whatever pictures they deem appropriate. Whoever the Legislator is, he deserves to be held accountable for his abusive conduct. Signorile writes that staff member Keith, himself having been sexually harassed by a powerful employer, identified strongly with Anita Hill. It is hoped that he and other victims of the Legislator will soon feel empowered to follow her example, and come forward and tell their stories. Michael Phillip Wright is a health researcher, sociologist, and free-lance writer living in Norman, Oklahoma. He can be reached via email at sorrento95@aol.com.