Gay activist: I have no regrets over outing gay Republicans, but it’s not needed anymore
Activist Mike Rogers has said that he has “no regrets” over outing a number of prominent Republican politicians.
Writing for Politico, Rogers, who outed several politicians from BlogActive from 2004 until 2011, and was the subject of film Outrage, said that it was a different world, where he was working to expose hypocricy.
He wrote: “For years, I had known of prominent gay politicians who were in the closet but worked for homophobic causes in the interest, it seemed to me, of their political careers.
“And so, drawing on sources within and outside Washington, I began using my blog to expose these congressmen and their high-profile staffers.
“This wasn’t about private sex lives—it was about hypocrisy. As I saw it, all I was doing was reporting the truth.
“10 years later, after my reports on dozens of politicians and staffers, I believe we’re better off for it, with a more open discussion of anti-gay politicians who lead double lives.
“I am often asked, ‘Does reporting on these closeted homophobes really accomplish anything?’
“Of course it does. Like every movement, no one action or reaction seals the deal. Pressure must come from all sides: legal, political, activist and media.
“[My blog] has been dormant for the past three years. I have left it up as an archive of my work—and a reminder of another era in our nation’s history.
“Thankfully, there is much less need for the blog today. No longer is my community under constant threat of having discrimination against us written into the constitution.
“Closeted anti-gay politicians are able to inflict less damage, and we have a national media much more open to reporting on these stories. I have no regrets at all about the work I did.”
