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Closeted Rep. Mark Foley's (R-Fla.) e-mails with a male page may be innocuous - or they may be flirtatious. It is hard to tell. In any case, they put the stealthy Republican's sexuality back on the frontburner. Let's hope that he is both innocent and that he comes out of the closet. It would be terrible PR for the GLBT community if we find that Foley has turned more pages than Stephen King.
36 Comments:
This is another example of dirty politics as usual. Whether Foley is a closet case or not, republican or democrat, if the Dems were truly interested in the real issues, let alone equality issues, they wouldn't be using smear tactics for political expediency. We've had enough after the Lewinsky debacle. Nobody has learned their lesson from that it seems. Foley won't be the last either. I'm so sick of all the sensationalism. About time people grew up and moved on.
I don't know why people are calling this 'smear tactics'. The guy is obviously doing something shady and if with minors, needs help. Also, this directly relates to his work as an elected representative. I don't live in his district and don't have the ability to vote him in or out of office, but his actions directly impact me. I want to know if he is hypocritical. He wants to deny others things that he does himself. It is only considered a 'smear tactic' if someone thinks being gay is wrong. The guy might be young, but he is over the age of consent.
posted by Steve Talbert, at
9/29/2006 5:32 PM
i meant poetic justice because Foley was the one who 'spearheaded' the law through congress...
posted by Steve Talbert, at
9/29/2006 11:18 PM
I don't consider a grown man who trolls for underaged boys "Gay." He's a pervert and a hypocrite, with the gall to sit on a committee that dealt with child abuse! He's leaving Congress now, and I'm glad he's leaving. May the door not hit him where the good Lord split him.
posted by Stuffed Animal, at
9/30/2006 1:05 PM
You know what is sooo bad about this? It's that the republicans are going to spin this to say that the gays are stealthy enough to fool the republicans and gross enough to be pedophiles! They will be able to fool the American public into believing that gays disguise themselves as nice people and then act immorally. Even though we all know there is a difference between homosexuality and pedophilia - most of ignorant America does not know that. This is bad, bad, bad.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/30/2006 5:12 PM
I just went to the Drudge report--no mention of Foley, zip, none, nada--very telling...
posted by Anonymous, at
10/01/2006 11:19 AM
Poor Mark Foley--having to go thru life with a pockmarked face, and now this. Is there no justice in this world.... ;)
posted by Anonymous, at
10/02/2006 5:46 PM
i just read that he's now saying he was abused as a child and that he is gay. For the record, a gay man does not incite children to sex. Gay men like other MEN, not kids. But I guess this is fodder for the Christian Coalition.
posted by jekelhyde, at
10/03/2006 8:59 PM
Well - he's going to position his problem in the way that best meets his goals - not yours and not mine. And he is full of shit. He is a child molester who took advantage of his position, credit, etc... over others. Shameless!
posted by Anonymous, at
10/03/2006 11:48 PM
Yet another setback for LGBT equality issues. I wonder if he is using an alledged clergy molestation charge as an excuse to justify his behavior and/or his orientation. The right wing bigots must be jumping up and down in elation. Pedophelia to them is equated with being gay. Foley has given them amunition to continue their agenda to deny us equality. Funny how the Log Cabiners have remained silent.
Funny how everyone wants to blame this party or that party. What happened to seeing this as everyone's concern and taking action against a criminal??
posted by Anonymous, at
10/04/2006 2:12 PM
Oh brother! Some gay activist said that if Foley were only out and felt good about being gay this would not have happened!!! Does anyone see the difference between being gay and a pedophile!!! This is NOT a gay issue. This is an issue about child molestation and it is a crime!
posted by Anonymous, at
10/04/2006 8:22 PM
As this is developing it seems such a shame for GLBT people. I was sorry, although not terribly surprised, to see that this morning Foley's lawyer said that he wanted people to know he was gay. Why did he want people to know that? If it's even true?
Let's face it, there are plenty of these guys out there. My gay son (16 years old and looks it) has been propositioned many a time by older men, sometimes men who are 40 or even more years older than he is. Thank goodness he has had the presence of mind to say no, and to come home and tell us about it. But I didn't call the cops on any of these guys, nor would I storm after them with a flaming torch. Had my son been 8 or even 12, yeah, probably then I would have. But 16, I guess that just seems closer to the line to me. Never again will he associate with any of these men, don't get me wrong... but to think that arrest or jail time are in order, I would be very conflicted about that.
I guess it's partly because I think back to my own teenagerhood... families where I babysat and the dad had had a few and got too friendly taking you home at night... the supervisor at the hamburger job where the word was, don't get caught in the backroom when so-and-so is around. Nobody, especially a teenager, deserves to get harassed and it would be a great world if it never happened at all. But it's been happening to young women for years and years and years, and I don't remember anybody ever getting too excited about it.
None of this is to say that I don't think what Foley did was gross and stupid and inappropriate. But I also find it pitiful in its way, the same way as I find the guys who come on to my son to be pitiful. It's this sad thing where they seem to be trying so hard to be cool and to recapture their own youth, maybe a youth that escaped them the first time around because they were so far into the closet back then.
You know there was a time when it was cool for a young man to have sex with an older woman (read the summer of 42) and then we all know about the come ons of older men to younger girls and we tolerate that. However, nonchalant as we have been in the past that time has come and gone. It is time to draw the line. Leave children alone. If Foley is indeed gay, then get some of his partners out here and prove it. Otherwise, he just pedophile. And you might tell your son that, too - when he comes home and some grown man has done this too him. It is objectifying of a person, not good for their self esteem, or sense of sexuality and confuses the meaning of being intimate with another human being. If a man has not found his youth when he was young then he has PROBLEMS. Stay away.
posted by Anonymous, at
10/04/2006 8:54 PM
I agree . . . older men who can't keep their hands off teenage boys are perverts! My blood is boiling, because I'm encountering so many (so-called) Gay men who want to argue that since 16 is the age of consent in Washington DC, Foley isn't a pedophile, he isn't a predator, and what he did wasn't criminal. They're actually APOLOGIZING for him! Aren't they protesting a bit too much? Could it be that they themselves are engaged in something shameful with a 16-year-old boy or girl?
There is a pressing need for Lesbians and Gay men to define themselves in the public mind and define themselves as clearly as possible. There are a lot of folks (Mark Foley just being the latest example) who are out there falsely claiming homosexual status. They reveal themselves by the weird things they say, things like "having sex outdoors is part of Gay culture" or "I chose to be Gay" or "A man had sex with me when I was a child and there isn't anything wrong with it." A significant number of these folk are hedonists and perverts, and they obviously don't care if the whole Gay population suffers for their sins. It's time to separate the men from the boys, LITERALLY.
posted by Stuffed Animal, at
10/05/2006 10:30 AM
Well, believe me I wish that older men would leave my son alone, too. I don't think it's too good for him (although he doesn't seem to get super-upset with it... but I guess time will tell on that one).
I am just thinking now about my 47 year old (amle) workout partner, who openly lusts after the young gals at our gym. I don't know if he's pursued any of them but I bet if he got the chance to interact with any of them, he would. And it seems to be perfectly socially acceptable for men to think young ladies are attractive, and preferable to older (age-appropriate) women in most regards.
I understand that perhaps gay men need to be more punctilious about not appearing to favor young guys. With all the prejudice and accusations of "recruiting" that are made against gay men, maybe they have to be held to a higher standard. Or, they should hold themselves to a higher standard. But to say that feeling desire for an older teenager is completely socially out of step with the mainstream, I don't think is accurate.
No- you should have a serious talk with your son. this kind of thing is improper and not good for anyone's ideas about his culture, self esteem, sexuality etc...
And no it is not proper for men to lust after young firls. Iam furious about this.
And any gay activist who apologizes for Foley is an idiot and enabler. Foley is a grown man, makes his own decisions and is culpable.
posted by Anonymous, at
10/05/2006 1:30 PM
Think back to when you were 16 y.o. I was so easily manipulated by anyone who took an interest in me. Now - what if a congressman or representative took an interest in you? WOW! That would just be off the charts. Foley is knowing full well what he is doing to these children.
posted by Anonymous, at
10/05/2006 1:37 PM
"I understand that perhaps gay men need to be more punctilious about not appearing to favor young guys. With all the prejudice and accusations of "recruiting" that are made against gay men, maybe they have to be held to a higher standard. Or, they should hold themselves to a higher standard. But to say that feeling desire for an older teenager is completely socially out of step with the mainstream, I don't think is accurate."
I never said there's anything wrong with people feeling sexual attraction for older teenagers. Boys on the cusp of manhood can be very attractive. What I said was, adults should KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF teenagers. Grown men and women need to stop behaving sexually toward teens as if they were adults. It's a selfish thing to do. Let a kid be a kid while he's still a kid, for crying out loud!
However, selfish isn't the proper word to describe Mark Foley's predatory behavior. "Perverse" is the proper word! Do you honestly think he went to the trouble of verifying that the boys he harassed were "older teenagers" before he harassed them? He saw fresh, young, vulnerable chicken meat, and like a coyote he went after it with his tongue dragging on the floor (or the keyboard, as it were). His behavior was obsessive and pathological. In an atmosphere of secrecy, he tempted boys with promises of gifts and alcoholic beverages. He reportedly tried to enter the page dormitory one night while intoxicated and had to be restrained. HE'S A PREDATOR!
What's wrong with us? Why are we jumping to the defense of behavior like this? Why can't we see it when something is so obviously wrong? Has our concept of morality really become so nebulous?
posted by Stuffed Animal, at
10/05/2006 5:03 PM
I agree, stuffed animal. AS a gay teen, I often cruised the older guys, but the thought they they were cruising back as I think back now. Damn. Old men should not be using kids, period. Anyone who is not above the age of consent; anyone who's bodies have not caught up to their minds, or vice versa should be off limits to anyone with a conscience.
This man is not a gay man. He is a paranah. ( not sure if I spelled it right) I love men, but the boyfriends my 16 year old daughter brings home are so far from my fantasy guy. I just don't get it.
I can't help but think it's some kind of inferiority complex. For a man to want a boy...even a teen aged boy...I just don't get it.
But Jane CT. I've read all your posts and I So respect you as a mother. Just make sure he is safe. My parents basically kept my safety in their minds at all times, but let me be a hormonal kid. The lines of communication were always opened. I've been in a wonderful relationship now, for 8 years and are raising three great kids. Best of luck to you.
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