Subject: Re: Call to Conscience
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 18:29:12 -0400

Bob, Michael and others,

     Thought you might be interested in reading the following editorial
(draft) that will appear in this Monday's edition of IN Newsweekly .  -- Ed

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Conscience and closets

by Ed Boyce

The banter in gay journalism electronic mail circles lately sure has been
interesting.  Incensed by the recent bi-partisan gaybashing that was the
floor debate in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the so-called
Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA), certain gay activists are advocating for the
outing of congresspeople in both parties who are remaining silent and even
voting the wrong way while this political bloodbath continues to smear the
our whole community with misrepresentations, lies and hate-filled
sociological scare tactics.
They are dropping names -- names we cannot repeat here due to a whole host of
journalistic ethics issues and lack of citable evidence.
But in some cases, there is evidence.  In a number of cases, the sexual
orientation of the members of Congress in question has been fairly commonly
known in certain circles for a long time.
There is the female Democratic senator from a small mid-Atlantic state, who
we've known about for a long time, and who once allegedly had a relationship
with a featured female speaker at the upcoming GOP national convention.
 There is also the freshman Republican representative from Florida, who we've
heard really knows how to have a good time with another males.  And several
others too.
Last Friday, an ad-hoc group of gay and lesbian activists from around the
country, including David Mixner, Keith Meinhold, Torie Osborn, William
Waybourn, Michael Petrelis, and about dozen other notable activists, took out
an ad in the Washington Blade exhorting closeted members of Congress to come
out and oppose DoMA.
The text of the ad reads:
"Gay and lesbian members of the House of Representatives who voted for the
anti-gay 'Defense of Marriage Act' (DoMA): atone for your vote against your
community.  Stand forward, apologize for supporting the DOMA, and shatter the
myths that afforded its passage.
Gay and lesbian members of the Senate: speak out before your chamber votes on
the DoMA.  Tell our stories, your stories, to America from the highest point
of debate in the nation -- the floor of the United States Senate.
"Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans can no longer afford your
silence.  Create a moment in history.  Speak for us.  Protect us.  Together,
we can render powerless the anti-gay slurs that now pass for legitimate
political discourse.  Take this step, and the community will work with you to
defeat ignorance and bigotry.
Come out.  Speak out.  Our freedom and your integrity are at stake."
Indeed.
That group isn't officially threatening to out anyone.  But some of the
signatories on the no-so-well-designed ad are definitely talking about it.
 This all has the potential to re-ignite the whole periodic controversy over
outing.  These are desperate times which might, in the eyes of some, call for
desperate and unusual measures.  It may not matter how most gays, lesbians
and bisexuals feel about this controversial tactic.  It merely remains to be
seen whether anyone has the evidence, energy and moral certitude to do it.
And a final note to the Republican congressman from Arizona who is allegedly
considering actually coming out of the closet:  Please do it!  You already
enjoy a wholehearted support from the Log Cabin Federation, and you should
know that a great majority of gays and lesbians of both parties across the
country would welcome you and applaud your courage were you to tell your
colleagues and the nation the truth about your life -- a truth which is to be
celebrated, not to be ashamed of.  
You have won re-election by a comfortable margin for your past several terms.
 After the number of years you have represented your district, hopefully you
feel that your constituents are not so prejudiced and hateful that they will
ignore all of your accomplishments for them over the years and fail to
re-elect you solely on the basis of your sexual orientation. 
If you do come out, you also will become an instant hero to gay and lesbian
Americans everywhere.  We understand that you stand to lose some support from
bigoted portions of your state's electorate if you do courageously come out
of the closet.  But you will gain a lot more back in terms of self-esteem and
enthusiastic appreciation from gays and lesbians across the country.  With
Gerry Studd (D-Mass) and Steve Gunderson (R-Wisconsin) about to retire from
the House, leaving Barney Frank (D-Mass) there all alone, we have great need
for courageous heroes in the form of openly-gay congress people to remind the
rest of the members that when they pass laws that seek to diminish the rights
of gays and lesbians, they are abating the personal rights and dignity of
some of their colleagues as well.