Mike Rogers outs Rep. Mark Kirk

Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican Congressman long suspected by the gay community to be, well, gay – actually is, according to Mike Rogers.

The interesting thing here is that Kirk has a pretty pro-gay voting record, voting for ENDA, against a constitutional ban on gay marriage (twice) – and even voting to re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment (not specifically gay, but lesbian feminists like myself are cheering).

So why is a gay activist – who also outed clearly anti-gay Mark Foley and Larry Craig – outing this guy?

He voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Rogers says Kirk came out to him (kinda) at a party in 2004:

“I was introduced to [Kirk] by the person I came with and at the time did not realize he was a member of the House. As my friend walked away, Kirk asked me if the man who introduced us was ’single or attached.’ When I said that he had a partner Kirk replied disappointingly, ‘Oh, well.’ At the end of that interaction I walked away and didn’t think much of it at the time.”

And after the DADT vote, two men wrote him to say they had slept with Kirk.

Kirk is running for Senate this fall – and he is in the military (he’s a Commander in the Naval Reserves).

What do you think about this, folks? Do you think his gayness will make a difference in the election? Is there actual hypocrisy here, or was this just a bill he didn’t agree with (not all gay people vote in lockstep, after all, and the House didn’t need his vote to pass the bill). Or is this anti-gay vote a bid to help his election – and so the worst kind of hypocrisy?

Gay band refines performance for inauguration

Members of the Lesbian & Gay Band Association practiced playing their instruments and marching in lockstep Monday in an effort to refine their performance for their parade appearance on Inauguration Day.

The band, which is slated to be the first gay contingent to march in a presidential inaugural parade, had its dress rehearsal at St. Elizabeth’s, a federally operated psychiatric hospital, and marched around the facility’s grounds.

Marita Begley, one of the drum majors for the band, urged marchers to tighten their step during the rehearsal.

“On the turn, if you’re turning right, you guide right!” she shouted. “You got to stay shoulder-to-shoulder on the turn. Don’t swing out!”

See Gay band refines performance for inauguration
Southern Voice, GA