Withers: Outing is a gimmick best left in the last century
Posted on June 3, 2010
Filed Under 365Gay, News
Blogger Mike Rogers has gone nuclear against Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk. The politician earned Rogers’ ire because of his pro DADT vote last week—only five House Republicans voted for repeal.
“In an effort to move the base in the Illinois Senate race , Kirk decided to tack right and that means throwing the gays (like him) under the bus.”
Rogers talks about anonymous sources who insist Kirk is gay (2 of them allege they had sex with the guy). The blogger recounts his own Kirk past (no sex involved). The two met at a 2004 Washington, DC party, and the Republican outed himself in a casual conversation. Kirk apparently was into the male friend who brought Rogers to the soiree. Between 2001 and last year, the Republican was married to Kimberly Vertolli.
Rogers airs all of this because he thinks Kirk’s DADT vote stinks with hypocrisy. Fair point, but the reporter never explains why supporting DADT is problematic. He kicks open Kirk’s alleged glass closet because of pique over a vote. When the Republican was OK on gay issues, at least according to the Human Rights Campaign, there was no need to share any of this. In the world according to Rogers, vote right and you can stay on the closet. Cross him and your laundry will be made public.
I’m in the minority about this, but outing is an ineffective political strategy. It gins up our moral outrage, but where are the tangible political gains? Are we closer to the repeal of DADT? Marriage rights? An ENDA vote?
Outside of seeing someone squirm under the media glare, the freedom movement, such as it is, is not advanced by sifting through supposed closed door habits.
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