Anti-Gay Agenda Is Running Out of Time

Is it a witch hunt, or is it justice?

If a gay elected official masquerades as a heterosexual, and publicly opposes civil rights for other homosexuals, does he deserve to be outed?

Or is forcing him out of the closet just another way to victimize a homosexual?

Depends on whom you ask.

We may never know if Larry Craig is gay, but we can be certain he isn't happy.

He was caught soliciting sex in an airport restroom — or not. He is resigning from the U.S. Senate — or not. He's a closeted homosexual — or not.

Craig's scandal has conjured the inevitable references to other public officials brought down by their sexual secrets.

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevey, a married man with two children, admitted in 2004 that he was gay and then resigned after his male lover, a state employee, morphed into a blackmailer wannabe.

Two years later, Republican Congressman Mark Foley, a longtime champion for children, resigned after sending sexually suggestive instant messages to male pages.

How many of these guys are out there?

At least 33 — all of them closeted gays, all of them congressmen, says Mike Rogers, the gay blogger who outed Craig months before he pleaded guilty in a restroom sex sting. Rogers told The Washington Post all but three on his list are Republicans, and he vowed to out "a few more" soon.

He dismissed critics who say his strategy crosses the line.

"When those private lives are in direct conflict with the public policy that these officials espouse, I think it's fair game that their private lives be brought into this," he told the Post. "What community is expected to protect its own enemies? Don't beat up the gay community, then expect us to protect your secrets and your double life."

His rage resonates with many gay and lesbian Americans, which is why Joe Solmonese doesn't condemn Rogers' tactics even though he disagrees with them.

Solmonese is president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights in the country.

HRC has long opposed outing closeted homosexuals.

"I've debated this point with Mike Rogers many times," Solmonese said. "There is a real division within the community. Some think this is a tactic that moves the agenda, but I've noticed that the last line in a lot of these conversations is, 'It helps the Democrats.'"

That is not his agenda. For Solmonese, the question is always, "Where do we end up as a movement?"

"At the end of the day, I don't know if Larry Craig's story leaves us more enlightened about what it means to live a secret life as a gay person. The impression we're left with is that he's a hypocrite. The more thoughtful discussion is about what it means to live a life in the closet, and how challenging that is."

Sometimes I question whether people like me have any right even to engage in this debate. I enjoy a full range of civil rights in this country simply because my partner belongs to the opposite sex. Who am I to weigh in at all?

But millions of Americans are deprived of those same rights to marriage, employment security, and spousal and parental benefits simply because their partner belongs to the same sex. Laws meant to take away the rights of some diminish all of us who believe in a just America. Their fight is my fight.

And it isn't hard to see why so many in the gay community feel a special outrage for closeted homosexuals who work publicly to limit the rights of those who have the courage and the integrity to live open, authentic lives.

Lately, I find hope in the younger generation of Americans nipping at our aging heels. It's only a matter of time before they will provide the justice we were unable, or unwilling, to deliver.

In the meantime, Solmonese will keep working the system, hoping increased contact with the gay community clears heads and softens hearts.

And Rogers will continue to attack the system, targeting one closeted gay official at a time.

Either way, the clock is ticking.

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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