Subject: Big Fish Outing
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 13:20:51 -0400

Some of you may know all of part of this story; those of you who are
journalists may in fact have been researching this story, or received much of
the information I have. But I suspect that most people on this list don't
know about this, and I think it should get out there as widely as possible.
Pass it along, if you see fit.

Representative John Kasich of Ohio, chairman of the House Budget Committee,
champion of the religious right (he has a 100% rating from the Christian
Coalition and 22% rating from the Human Rights Campaign), and a staunch foe
of this community,  is running against a pro-gay Democrat this November. He
has also been rumored to be a closeted homosexual himself for many years. 

	Over the past several years, whenever I would give a lecture at any
university or community group in Ohio, people would come up to me and tell me
about Kasich. No one was the first hand source, but it was one of those
rumors that seemed like more than wishful thinking (you start to get a sense
of these things when you’ve been doing this long enough). Kasich is unmarried
and lives in a townhouse in Washington with a man, his chief of staff, who
travels with him everywhere and has been his devoted companion, socially as
well as professionally. This chief of staff enjoys the ultimate perks that
any chief of staff could, including the house’s cap salary of  $108,000 a
year for a chief of staff. He also apparently shares all of Kasich’s money,
and they both share expenses for everything, including a car they own
together, not the behavior of most platonic “roommates.”

	The Ohio papers have, predictably, been reluctant to discuss this
relationship over the years. When the Cleveland Plain Dealer broached the
issue several years ago, Kasich cut them out of the loop and has apparently
given them the cold shoulder since. When Kasich was recently on the list of
Dole’s VP nominees, much of the national media was quietly investigating this
story. ABC News was digging deep and ready to go. But then Kasich was passed
up by the Dole campaign, according to some in the know, precisely because of
his “homo problem.” (Not that Kemp didn’t have such a problem, but then
again, Kasich queer escapades seem much closer to home, so to speak). And
suddenly this was no longer a national story to much of the media--even
though I (and I’m sure many of you) most certainly think it is.

	Now, in recent weeks, Kasich’s opponent,  Cynthia Ruggia,  a pro-gay
Democrat, has filed ethics charges against Kasich (apparently with the
support and encouragement of some local gay people in Columbus). Her logic of
course is simple: It’s unethical and represents a conflict of interest for a
house member to hire and pay a top salary to someone with whom he is involved
in an intimate relationship. Reporters and editors at the local papers in
Columbus, who Kasich has had in  his pocket and who rarely question anything
he does, predictably attacked Ruggia for implying the unthinkable. In their
eyes she was pulling a “Foley” (as when House Speaker Tom Foley was several
years ago rumored to be gay without any substantiation). Still, they did not
question Kasich, or if they did, he did not comment. And they have not
investigated just what the extent of the relationship is, accepting that this
is just a couple of buddies who live together, work together, travel
together, own major property together, and don’t seem to date women.
(Hello???) Actually, there is a woman whom Kasich from time to time says is
his girlfriend; she apparently lives in another city, sees him once in a blue
moon, and is, according to sources, a lesbian. In other words, she’s his
“beard.”

	From what I’m told, the gay press in Ohio is working on the story, as is the
Advocate, though the Advocate has apparently told some locals in Ohio that
they won’t go with it unless someone else does. The Cleveland Plain Dealer,
burned by Kasich, is also hungry to go with it, but gives the same reason. As
usual, with some (but, these days, not all ) outings, much of the media that
knows about this wants to be "first to be second" as we say--but nobody wants
to be first, fearful of coming under attack.
    As is par for the course, the Washington groups, HRC specifically, known
about this but don't want anything to do with it. The Log Cabin people are
friendly with Kasich and one person in Ohio claims Kasich is actually a
member; but Log Cabinites are usually the last ones who will tell us anything
about closeted gay republican members of Congress (for obvious reasons). They
were also friendly for several years with recently outed Jim Kolbe of Arizona
and Mark Foley of West Palm Beach. At the San Diego convention, I did not get
a chance to speak with Kasich long enough to pop the question (but did speak
with Kolbe and Foley--will be in my next Out column). But Ann Northop of the
Gay Cable Network did ask him about Kolbe. Kasich, to his credit, said he
totally supported Kolbe in his coming out and was planning on advising the
future Dole Administration that Kolbe, for his work on the budget committee,
should be given a position in the administration (even if there was a "Dole
Administration," I doubt this would happen.) Still, this man is a major enemy
of the gay movement and a major friend of the religious right. 

	I do not have the opportunity to investigate this further and have it make
any impact: I work for a monthly publication, and it wouldn’t be until well
after the election that this might be reported, and i think I'd run into the
same “first to be second” logic from editors. But others out there I’m sure
could go with this. And if we just get this around the internet enough, it
could propel the story: That is really what happened with Representatives Jim
Kolbe and Mark Foley of Florida (and this guy makes Kolbe and Foley look like
Pat Shroeder); the story just flew across the internet and snowballed, until
it had a life of its own. If we get it around enough, more sources may come
through and also some people might run with it. I urge everyone who is a
journalist out there to see the relevance of this story. This is not
gratuitous or vindictive outing (and I don’t like falling back on the
“hypocrisy” argument either, implying that we’re trying to punish someone who
doesn’t follow our particular political agenda): It is simply relevant
reporting--it is good and proper journalism, simple as that, and do not let
anyone tell you any different.

	If anyone wants more info do not contact me, contact Eric Resnick at
[email-masked]