Dave Karsnia over tape:
All right.
The date is 6/11/07
at 12:28 hours.
You have the right
to remain silent.
Anything you say can
and will be used against you
in a court of law.
Do you understand
each of these rights as I
explained them to you?
- Larry Craig: I do.
- Karsnia: Do you wish
to talk to us at this time?
Craig: I do.
So let's start
from the beginning.
You went in the bathroom.
I went in the bathroom.
I got in a stall,
sat down.
Your foot came towards mine,
mine came towards yours.
Was that natural?
I don't know.
Did we bump?
Yes, I think we did.
The next thing I knew,
under the bathroom divider
comes a card
that says "Police."
- Karsnia:
What about your hand?
- Craig: What about my hand?
I could see
the gold wedding ring.
I could see that.
Have you been successful
in these bathrooms here before?
No, absolutely not.
I don't seek
activity in bathrooms.
You're not
being truthful to me.
I'm kind of disappointed
in you, Senator.
I'm real disappointed
right now.
Sir, we deal with people
that lie to us every day.
- Craig: Gentlemen, so do I.
- Karsnia: I'm sure you do.
I've never had to bring
anybody to jail
because everybody's
been truthful to me.
I don't want you
to take me to jail.
I'm not gonna
take you to jail
as long as you're
being cooperative.
People vote for you.
I'm a respectable person
and I don't do these
kinds of--
Where's your respect
right now though?
I-I-- I am not gay.
I don't do these
kinds of things.
- Karsnia: I saw--
- Craig: I don't do
those things.
James McGreevey:
AT ITS FUNDAMENTAL CORE,
AT ITS BASE,
IT IS SO PROFOUNDLY
UNHEALTHY.
BECAUSE IT GOES BACK
TO THAT SIMPLE MANIFESTATION,
THAT SIMPLE
SHAKESPEAREAN QUOTE:
"UNTO THINE OWN SELF
BE TRUE."
YOU HAVE TO BE
TRUE TO YOURSELF.
AND THEN, GOD WILLING,
TRUE TO YOUR LOVED ONES,
TO YOUR COMMUNITY,
TO YOUR PUBLIC.
Reporter:
...turning out at Washington,
DC, where the report
of the arrest
of Senator Larry Craig
is generating
a massive media frenzy.
Reporter #2:
Breaking tonight, a Republican
senator busted by police.
Craig's arrest
was first reported
about 24 hours or so ago.
Reporter #3:
A day later "The Idaho
Statesman"
published the story
it had been holding.
Republican Senator
Larry Craig from Idaho
again will be having
a news conference
in 45 minutes.
Craig:
Thank you all very much
for coming out today.
First, please let me
apologize
to my family,
friends and staff
and fellow Idahoans
for the cloud placed
over Idaho.
Man:
Senator, what happened
in Minneapolis?
Man #2:
Hey, what if you are gay?
Man #3:
Come out
of the closet.
Man #4:
It's all right, man.
Come on, Larry. Be gay!
Kevin Naff:
I THINK IT'S VERY SAD.
THIS IS SOMEBODY WHO HAS
LIVED IN THE CLOSE HIS WHOLE LIFE,
HAS PROBABLY
CHEATED ON HIS WIFE
ANY NUMBER OF TIMES.
IT'S A TWISTED KIND OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL THING
THAT HAPPENS.
WHEN YOU'RE IN THE CLOSE AND LIVING A DOUBLE LIFE,
IT MAKES YOU DO
CRAZY THINGS.
AND FOR A UNITED STATES
SENATOR
TO BE SOLICITING SEX
IN A PUBLIC RESTROOM
IS A CRAZY THING.
TO UNDERSTAND HIS STORY
AND ALL OF THESE STORIES,
YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
WHERE THE CULTURE WAS.
IN 1955,
MY NEWSPAPER REPORTED
ON A GAY SEX SCANDAL
INVOLVING ALLEGEDLY
UNDERAGE MEN
AND POWERFUL PEOPLE
IN BOISE.
AMONG THE HEADLINES
ON OUR EDITORIAL PAGE
WAS ONE THAT READ
"CRUSH THE MONSTER,"
THE MONSTER BEING
HOMOSEXUAL PERVERSITY.
THAT WAS 1955.
LARRY CRAIG WAS
10 YEARS OLD.
AND I IMAGINE HIM
THINKING THA THAT WAS AN ABJECT LESSON
THAT HE NEEDED TO HEED,
THAT HE COULDN'T ASPIRE TO BE
A UNITED STATES SENATOR
AND BE GAY
AT THE SAME TIME.
EVERY TIME HE WAS
UP FOR ELECTION,
THE QUESTION WAS RAISED--
WILL SOMEONE RAISE
THE ISSUE?
Good evening.
The Capitol Hill investigation
of sex and drugs
which had existed mainly
in the congressional
rumor mill
today took on
the attributes of a serious
and spreading scandal.
Woman:
The FBI formed
a special squad
to investigate allegations
of homosexual activity
between congressmen
and teenage pages.
One congressman came forward
after rumors surfaced
that he was involved
in the case.
I have always been
aggressive and upfront
with what I believe in.
And when I have
people telling me
that a whole series
of false accusations
are made against
my character,
frankly,
it makes me mad as hell.
MANY OF THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE GAY
WHO ARE IN PUBLIC SERVICE
SEEM TO THINK
THAT THEY'RE IMMUNE
FROM BEING EXPOSED.
AND THEY GO OUT.
THEY GO TO BARS.
THEY GO TO CLUBS.
THEY EVEN GO TO BATHHOUSES.
David Phillips:
WHEN I WAS REALLY YOUNG
IN D.C. BACK IN THE '80s,
ONE OF MY FAVORITE
PLACES TO GO BACK THEN
WAS "THE FOLLIES."
THERE WERE A NUMBER OF MEN
I SAW THERE FROM TIME TO TIME
AND HE WAS ONE OF THOSE.
HE HAD TAKEN
NOTICE OF ME
AND THEN HE SAID,
"LET'S GO SOMEWHERE ELSE"
AND I PROCEEDED
TO FOLLOW HIM
TO HIS HOUSE
ON CAPITOL HILL.
THERE WERE PICTURES
OF FAMILY AROUND
AND A CARD THAT WAS
ADDRESSED TO SUZANNE CRAIG.
WE THEN WOUND UP
PERFORMING ORAL SEX
ON EACH OTHER
AND THEN HE WANTED
TO FUCK ME.
ONCE HE HAD COME,
IT WAS EVERYTHING
TO GET ME BACK OUT OF THERE.
HE GRABBED ME
BY THE SHOULDER
AND VERY BOLDLY SAID,
"REMEMBER,
YOU NEVER SAW ME.
YOU'VE NEVER BEEN HERE."
AND HE REACHED
INTO HIS POCKET,
TOOK OUT A $20 BILL,
SHOVED IT IN MY BACK POCKE WITH ONE FINGER
AND SAID,
"JUST REMEMBER,
I CAN BUY AND SELL
YOUR ASS 1,000 TIMES."
Let me be clear:
I am not gay.
I never have been gay.
IT'S VERY OFTEN THOSE
SELF-HATING GAY PEOPLE WHO,
IN THE CLOSET,
ARE THE MOST VICIOUS
TOWARDS OTHER GAYS
AND LESBIANS
AS A WAY TO KIND
OF DEFLECT ATTENTION
FROM THEIR OWN ORIENTATION.
THERE IS NOT ONE
CIVIL RIGHTS LAW
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL
THAT EXISTS
TO PROTECT GAY,
LESBIAN, BISEXUAL
OR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY
NOT ONE LAW.
Catania:
THE FACT THAT SENATOR CRAIG
AND THOSE LIKE HIM
CAN ENGAGE IN HOMOSEXUAL
ACTIVITY ONE MINUTE
AND THEN TRY TO WRITE US
OUT OF EXISTENCE THE NEXT--
THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT HARSH
ENOUGH AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.
Reporter:
He was a powerful force
on senate committees,
a solid family-values
conservative.
The American people
already know
that Bill Clinton is
a bad boy,
a naughty boy.
I'm going to speak out
for the citizens
of my state who,
in the majority,
think that Bill Clinton
is probably even
a nasty bad naughty boy.
Reporter:
But in October 2006,
eight months before
the senator's arrest
in Minneapolis,
a gay activist named
Michael Rogers
who makes it
his business to out
conservative politicians
wrote in his blog that
he'd interviewed several men
who'd claimed to have had sex
with Senator Larry Craig.
Michael Rogers:
IN OCTOBER OF '06
I OUTED LARRY CRAIG.
I KNOW SOMEBODY WHO HAD SEX
WITH LARRY CRAIG IN A RESTROOM
AT UNION STATION.
THAT, TO ME, IS THE CRUX
OF THE CASE RIGHT THERE.
RIGHT NOW I HAVE
A NUMBER OF OPEN FILES
OF FOLKS THA I'M ACTIVELY LOOKING AT,
FROM A U.S. CABINET OFFICIAL
TO OFFICES OF SOME PRETTY
ANTIGAY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
SO I'M HERE.
I'M GETTING READY
TO GO ON "HANNITY & COLMES"
TONIGHT AT 9:00.
DAVID'S WITH ME,
HELPING ME OUT ON SOME
OF MY TALKING POINTS.
- SAY HI, DAVID.
- HELLO.
CAN'T LET THE RIGHT WING BE
THE ONLY ONES WITH THE FLAG.
I ACTUALLY ONCE HAD SOMEBODY
ASK ME ON FOX NEWS,
"ARE YOU SURE YOU WAN TO WEAR THAT FLAG?"
"YEAH, I AM."
SO, DAVID, WHY DON'T YOU
FIRE ME A FEW QUESTIONS
LIKE HOW HANNITY'S
GOING TO DO THAT, YOU KNOW?
"MIKE, HOW IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING
DIFFERENT THAN McCARTHYISM?"
- THIS IS McCARTHYISM!"
- FIRST OF ALL,
SEAN, McCARTHY
WAS A LIAR.
McCARTHY PUT OU FALSE INFORMATION
- ABOUT AMERICANS.
- OH NO!
THAT'S JUST THE SAUCE.
I'M GONNA HAVE TO CUT YOU
OFF RIGHT THERE.
- MIKE-- MIKE-- MIKE--
- SEAN-- SEAN-- SEAN--
- WE'RE OUTTA TIME.
- THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.
YOUR MOUTH WILL OPEN,
BUT NOTHING WILL COME
OUT OF IT.
Hannity:
Breaking news tonight.
Fox News has confirmed
that Senator Larry Craig
may be reconsidering his
decision to resign.
Joining us now
with reaction to this story
is blogger Mike Rogers,
who called for an investigation
into Craig last year.
All right, from the beginning.
HI, SEAN, AND GOOD EVENING.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON.
Larry Craig is a hypocrite.
He is an antigay
closeted individual
who has sex with other men.
I read what you had
and apparently this tape
of this one guy
that "The Idaho Statesman"
followed up on.
- It was a-- wait,
hang on a second.
- It's not one guy, Sean.
It was an anonymous source--
why doesn't the guy go
on the record?
Sean, it's not one guy.
It's now three or four.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY
NO DOUBT IN MY MIND.
I HAVE HEARD PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS REPEATED TO ME
FROM VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS.
I don't know
about Senator Craig.
I'm going to be honest,
- I don't have the details.
There is suspicion--
- I DO, I DO.
Are there others in the same
category as Larry Craig
who you think whose names
will be forthcoming
because of your work?
ABSOLUTELY.
THERE ARE NAMES
OF THE FOLKS IN CONGRESS
IN HIGH POSITIONS OF POWER
WHO ARE LEADING A SECRE DOUBLE LIFE.
And what I would say to Sean is,
Sean, where do you stand
with Larry Craig?
And will you stand
in the same position
if other
two-lived hypocrites
ARE EXPOSED?
BECAUSE I CAN ASSURE YOU
THAT THERE IS NO SHORTAGE.
( silent )
Rogers:
MY FIRST VERY BIG CASE
WAS THIS CONGRESSMAN
IN VIRGINIA BY THE NAME
OF ED SCHROCK.
Rogers:
A MONTH LATER, I GOT A TIP
THAT THERE WAS
A CONGRESSMAN WHO WAS GAY
AND THAT HE WAS USING
AN INTERACTIVE PHONE
DATING SERVICE
TO FIND WHAT MAY BE
KNOWN AS INSTA-SEX,
OR, YOU KNOW, TO HOOK UP
WITH SOMEBODY FOR SEX.
AND THE FIRST THING
I SAID TO THE PERSON WAS,
"THIS IS INSANE.
I CAN'T PUT UP
THAT A CONGRESSMAN
IS USING AN INTERACTIVE
PHONE SERVICE WITHOUT PROOF.
I MEAN, THAT'S A HELL
OF A CHARGE TO LEVY."
AND HE SAYS, "I HAVE SEVERAL
RECORDINGS OF THE CONGRESSMAN
GOING ON THE PHONE LINE
TO MEET A MAN FOR SEX.
AND THEY'RE VERY EXPLICIT."
AND I WAS LIKE, WOW!
( phone dialing )
( recording playing )
( phone clicks )
SO I TOOK THE RECORDINGS
AND WENT AHEAD
AND REPORTED
ON ED SCHROCK ON MY BLOG.
A case of the moral hunter
becoming the moral hunted.
Congressman Edward Schrock,
a Virginia Republican
who once co-sponsored a bill
to ban same-sex marriage,
dropped out of his bid
for re-election last month.
Rogers:
HE NEVER ADMITTED
THAT THEY WERE HIM,
BUT HE RESIGNED
FROM HIS RE-ELECTION.
THERE IT IS.
I AM GOING TO TELL PEOPLE
WHO THESE HORRIBLE TRAITORS ARE.
AND THEY ARE TRAITORS
TO THEIR PEOPLE.
I BELIEVE THAT.
AND I FEL THAT IT WAS TIME
FOR ME TO STAR REPORTING THAT AS HYPOCRISY.
NOT OUTING PEOPLE
WHO ARE GAY,
BUT REPORTING
ON INDIVIDUALS
WHO ARE WORKING
AGAINST THE COMMUNITY
THAT THEY THEN EXPEC TO PROTECT THEM.
BE WAITING IN FRON OF 1600 BROADWAY.
THAT'S PERFECT.
Catania:
MICHAEL HAS DECIDED
THAT THEY HAVE BEEN
CHASING US FOR YEARS.
AND WHAT MICHAEL REPRESENTS IS,
"WE'RE GONNA CHASE BACK."
NOW THAT UPSETS THE RULES
BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS
THE HOUNDS CHASE THE FOXES.
WELL, THIS FOX IS
CHASING THE HOUNDS.
AND IT'S GOT THEM
ALL BENT OUT OF SHAPE.
AND I SAY
MORE POWER TO HIM.
I THINK OUTING
IS A...
FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG
AND DISHONEST THING TO DO.
NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW
OR UNDERSTAND
THE PERSONAL JOURNEY
THAT AN INDIVIDUAL TAKES
TO ACCEPTING THE FAC THAT THEY ARE GAY OR LESBIAN.
I JUST FEEL SYMPATHY
WHEN THEY ARE EXPOSED THAT WAY.
I THINK EVERY GAY PERSON
KNOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE
TO HAVE YOUR PRIVACY
RIPPED APART.
THERE IS A RIGHT TO PRIVACY,
BUT NOT A RIGHT TO HYPOCRISY.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THA THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE LAW
BE SUBJECT TO THE LAW.
PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT SUBJEC TO LAWS WILL MAKE HARSH LAWS
BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE
TO LIVE WITH THEM.
HAVING THE PEOPLE
WHO MAKE THE LAW
BE FULLY COVERED BY THE LAW
IS A SAFEGUARD
AGAINST UNFAIRNESS.
THAT'S A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE
ON WHICH OUR DEMOCRACY
IS IN PART BUIL THAT GAY PEOPLE
WHO SUPPORT HOMOPHOBIA
ARE VIOLATING.
Anchor:
And now to Campaign 2006.
He's been the state's
attorney general and education
commissioner and on Tuesday,
Charlie Crist hopes
to be elected governor.
Reporter:
Charlie Crist--
50, single, no kids,
doesn't own a home,
wants to live in
the governor's mansion.
I'm a consistent
conservative.
I can continue to stand
for the things that
I believe in.
Reporter:
At a stop in Miami,
the tone was urgent.
I need you to get it out there.
I need your vote.
I need your heart.
I need your passion.
Get out there,
get it done.
Viva Crist. Let's win.
God bless you.
I believe that marriage
is a sacred relationship
between a man
and a woman.
I've always felt that way
and I still believe that now.
Marriage is a relationship
like my mother and father had,
like I had
before I got divorced.
It is one of those
unique institutions--
not only in America,
but across the world--
where a man and a woman
commit to one another.
( dial tone hums )
( keypad beeps )
Please leave a message.
HI, BRUCE.
THIS IS BOB NORMAN
WITH "NEW TIMES."
I AM A JOURNALIST WHO WORKS
IN THE ALTERNATIVE REALM.
I DO THE STORIES THA THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA
DOESN'T DO.
I HAD WRITTEN
ABOUT MARK FOLEY IN 2003.
THAT HAD GOTTEN A TREMENDOUS
AMOUNT OF ATTENTION.
THAT WAS WHAT LED TO
MY INVOLVEMENT WITH CRIS IN TERMS OF WRITING
ABOUT CRIST.
A SOURCE CONTACTED ME
VIA EMAIL.
THIS SOURCE WAS
AT A DINNER PARTY
AT A MULTIMILLION
DOLLAR MANSION
IN FORT LAUDERDALE.
AND HE WAS WITH A YOUNG STAFFER
NAMED JASON WETHERINGTON.
JASON WAS A YOUNG
REPUBLICAN STAFFER
WORKING FOR
KATHERINE HARRIS,
THE FAMOUS MASCARA'D QUEEN
OF THE 2000 ELECTION.
JASON SAID THAT HE HAD
MET CHARLIE CRIST,
HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM--
A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM,
AND HE EXPECTED AFTER CRIS WON THE ELECTION,
HE WOULD GET AN APPOINTMEN TO CRIST'S ADMINISTRATION
AND THAT HE HAD HOPED
TO CONTINUE THE RELATIONSHIP.
I FELT THAT THIS SOURCE
WAS COMPLETELY EARNES AND HONEST.
SO I DECIDED I WAS GOING
TO GO SEE JASON WETHERINGTON.
HE WAS VERY, VERY UNCOMFORTABLE
WITH THE LINE OF QUESTIONING.
THAT WAS OBVIOUS.
HE INITIALLY SAID
THAT HE HADN'T SAID THA AT THE DINNER PARTY.
THEN HE HEDGED
THAT A BIT.
"WELL, YOU KNOW,
I MIGHT HAVE BEEN DRINKING."
THAT KIND OF THING.
HE WAS EXTREMELY UPSE AND JUST SAID,
"DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO."
Radio host:
I know you've addressed
this question
once or twice before--
the whisper campaign
by your opponents
about whether
or not you're gay.
Now I don't care
whether you are or not--
( Crist speaking )
Host:
It's fine.
Norman:
AND THEN I GO ANOTHER PHONE CALL.
IT WAS FROM ANOTHER FRIEND
OF JASON WETHERINGTON'S.
Source #2:
THERE WAS A DINNER PARTY
THAT WAS HELD AT MY HOME
AND JASON WAS AT THE PARTY.
HE BEGAN TO ALLUDE
THAT THERE WAS A RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN CRIST AND HIM
AND THAT IT WAS PHYSICAL.
NOW I'VE GOT TWO SOURCES
WHO ARE SAYING
THE EXACT SAME THING
WHO DON'T KNOW
EACH OTHER.
IT WAS REVEALED
THAT NIGH THAT HE-- THAT CRIS DID HAVE A PARTNER
OR THERE WAS ANOTHER MAN
IN HIS LIFE.
IT WAS BRUCE
CARLTON JORDAN.
HE WAS FRIENDS
WITH JAY VASS,
A VETERAN
REPUBLICAN PILO AND JAY VASS'S GIRLFRIEND
DEE DEE HALL.
Woman:
...the sworn statement
you give
will be the truth,
the whole truth
- and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
- Yes.
Man:
Do you know a gentleman
by the name of Bruce Jordan?
Yes, I do.
Did he tell you
that he was gay?
Yes. He brought up
the fact
that he was
in a relationship...
that he was involved
with Charlie.
I was like, "Okay."
He just stated his first name.
And he said,
"Maybe you've heard of him."
He said, "It's Charlie Crist."
Norman:
I CONTACTED CHARLIE
ON THE PHONE
AND ASKED HIM DIRECTLY
ABOUT JASON WETHERINGTON
AND, UH...
AND BRUCE CARLTON JORDAN.
CHARLIE VERY SMOOTHLY
DENIED THAT HE KNEW
OR REMEMBERED KNOWING
EITHER ONE OF THESE PEOPLE.
The Governor-elect
of the State of Florida--
Charlie Crist!
( audience cheering )
Reporter:
Nearly 4,000 children are
waiting to be adopted
in Florida, but the state is
still turning away couples
looking to adopt.
Why?
Because they're gay.
Frank Gill is a gay
foster parent
who wants
to make it permanent.
Gill and his partner
have been foster parents
for four years
to these two boys,
now four and eight
years old.
They were neglected
and abandoned by their
birth parents.
Florida's the only state
in the country that
bans gay adoption.
Governor Charlie Crist has
supported the prohibition
on gay adoption
and tells "The Herald" he has
"no second thoughts" on that.
WELCOME BACK.
I'M MICHELANGELO SIGNORILE
ON SIRIUS OUTQ 109.
MIKE ROGERS,
THE MOST FEARED MAN
ON CAPITOL HILL
ACCORDING TO
"THE WASHINGTON POST,"
IS NOW HERE IN THE STUDIO.
HE IS THE MAN WHO GO THE BALL ROLLING
ON LARRY CRAIG
THE SENATOR FROM IDAHO.
- WELCOME TO THE SHOW.
- I HEARD YOU'RE GAY.
- ( all laugh )
- ARE YOU GONNA OUT ME NOW?
THAT'S WHAT THEY SAY.
THIS IS ALWAYS A QUESTION
THAT PEOPLE PUT OUT THERE:
ARE YOU ONLY FOCUSED
ON REPUBLICANS
OR ARE THERE CLOSETED
DEMOCRATS DOING DAMAGE
AND HOW COME THEY'RE
NOT BEING EXPOSED?
WHAT I TELL FOLKS
IS THE REASON THAT 90%
OF THE CASES OR SO
ARE REPUBLICANS
SAYS A LOT MORE
ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
THAN IT DOES MY WORK.
AND WHAT WE'RE SHOWING
IS IT'S THE CLOSET.
IT'S NOT HOMOSEXUALITY.
IT'S THE CLOSET THA BREEDS THAT KIND OF--
- AND THE CLOSET OF HYPOCRISY.
- ABSOLUTELY.
AND IT HAS GIVEN A LO OF CREDIBILITY TO THE WORK
YOU BEGAN A DECADE AGO.
Signorile:
I WENT TO JOURNALISM SCHOOL,
LEFT, THOUGHT I WAS
GONNA GET THIS GREA SERIOUS NEWS JOB,
AND WOUND UP WORKING
FOR A P.R. FIRM
THAT SPECIALIZED
IN GOSSIP.
AND IT WAS IN THAT WORLD,
IN THE '80s,
THAT I SAW HOW
THE GOSSIP WORLD
WOULD GLAMORIZE
HETEROSEXUALITY,
BUT ANYTHING ABOU ANY CELEBRITY
WHO WAS SECRETLY GAY,
WE WOULD HELP THEM COVER.
IT WAS THE ONE AREA WHERE
THEY DIDN'T DEMAND THE TRUTH.
EVERYWHERE ELSE, THEY WANTED
TO KNOW WHO WAS DATING WHO,
BUT WHEN IT CAME
TO GAY CELEBRITIES,
IT WAS ACCEPTED AND UNDERSTOOD
THAT YOU COVERED FOR THEM
AND YOU ACTUALLY
PUT OUT LIES.
I STARTED TO WRITE A COLUMN
CALLED "GOSSIP WATCH."
IT WAS A WATCH
OF THE GOSSIP COLUMNS.
IT WAS A LOOK AT HOW
THE GOSSIP COLUMNS,
WHICH ARE READ
BY MORE PEOPLE
THAN ANY OTHER FORUM
IN THE MEDIA,
ARE COMPLETELY
CONSTRUCTED AND CREATED
TO GLAMORIZE
HETEROSEXUALITY
AND KEEP HOMOSEXUALITY
INVISIBLE.
IN 1990 MALCOLM FORBES,
THE MULTIMILLIONAIRE PUBLISHER
OF "FORBES" MAGAZINE,
DIED AND THE MEDIA
IMMEDIATELY,
IN ALL OF HIS
OBITUARIES,
HELD HIM UP AS
A VERY SUCCESSFUL CAPITALIS WHO WAS DATING
ELIZABETH TAYLOR FOR YEARS.
AND YET, THEY LEFT OU THE FACT THAT HE WAS GAY.
IT TOOK YEARS,
IN FACT,
FOR "THE NEW YORK TIMES"
TO FINALLY SAY THA MALCOLM FORBES WAS GAY.
I FELT THA THE HISTORICAL RECORD
HAD TO BE CORRECTED
IMMEDIATELY.
Correspondent:
Michelangelo Signorile
is his name.
He's the one who outed
Malcolm Forbes after
his death,
writing that Forbes,
the very symbol of
establishment capitalism,
secretly was gay.
I'm certainly not doing
anything wrong. I think
in 20 years from now,
we're gonna look back
and say, "What the hell was
the big deal about?"
WELCOME BACK.
11 MINUTES BEFORE THE HOUR,
I'M MICHELANGELO SIGNORILE.
I'M HERE WITH MIKE ROGERS
IN STUDIO AND WE'RE
TAKING YOUR CALLS.
YOU'RE ON "THE MICHELANGELO
SIGNORILE SHOW."
Man on phone:
What happens when
you guys expose
all of the closeted people
in the conservative movement?
You get all
the hypocrites out of there,
what have you got left
but just
the solid non-hypocritical
festival of hate?
IT'S A FAIR QUESTION.
MIKE, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
THANKS FOR THAT, GREG.
IN MOST CASES WHEN SOMEBODY
IS REPORTED ON, THEY BECOME
A PRO-GAY LEGISLATOR.
BUT "IS THERE A BACKLASH?"
WHICH IS WHAT HE'S ASKING.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE
JUST THIS CORE OF HATE?
WELL, BARNEY FRANK
PUTS IT BEST:
"THE REASON PEOPLE HATE
GAY PEOPLE IS BECAUSE THEIR
LEADERS TELL THEM TO."
I THINK THAT EACH ONE
OF THESE OUTINGS
PUTS A LITTLE CHINK
IN THE ARMOR
OF THE ANTI-GAY SO-CALLED
"FAMILY VALUES" MOVEMENT.
I, RONALD REAGAN,
DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR...
"THAT I WILL
FAITHFULLY EXECUTE
THE OFFICE OF PRESIDEN OF THE UNITED STATES."
...THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY
EXECUTE THE OFFICE
OF PRESIDEN OF THE UNITED STATES.
Larry Gross:
THE ELECTION OF
RONALD REAGAN BROUGHT US
A FAIRLY LARGE NUMBER
OF HIGH-PLACED
BUT CLOSETED GAY MEN
IN THE REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION
WHO FAILED
TO ADEQUATELY ADDRESS
THE EPIDEMIC OF AIDS.
THE PRESIDEN OF THE UNITED STATES
WOULD NOT EVEN SAY
THE WORD "AIDS" PUBLICALLY
AS LATE AS 1987.
Rodger McFarlane:
REAGAN HAD BEEN ELECTED
ON THIS FUNDAMENTALIS CONSERVATIVE ROLE IN AMERICA
LED BY THE NATIONAL
CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL
ACTION COMMITTEE.
THE PRESIDENT OF NCPAC
WAS TERRY DOLAN!
TERRY IS DANCING AT FLAMINGO
ON THE WEEKEND IN NEW YORK
AND PROPPING UP
THE MOST RIGHT-WING HOMOPHOBES
IN AMERICA BY DAY.
Larry Kramer:
THIS IS A MAN WHO'S
RAISING MONEY
TO KILL US--
TERRY DOLAN.
I WENT TO A COCKTAIL PARTY
IN WASHINGTON AND THERE HE WAS.
I THREW A DRINK
IN HIS FACE.
I SAID, "HOW DARE YOU COME
TO A PARTY OF GAY PEOPLE
AFTER WHAT YOU'RE
DOING TO US?!"
McFarlane:
RICHARD KRAUSE--
THE HEAD OF THE N.I.H.,
IN CHARGE OF ALL THE INFECTIOUS
DISEASES AT THE TIME
OF ADVENT OF AIDS,
WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING
THAT WAS REQUIRED
BY THE SITUATION,
ANYTHING HEROIC,
SIMPLY BECAUSE
HE WAS AFRAID HE'D SPEND
HIS ENTIRE CAREER
TRYING NOT TO BE
IDENTIFIED WITH US.
EVERYONE KNOWS RICHARD IS GAY.
HE'S GOT PICTURES OF BOYFRIENDS
ON HIS DRESSER AT HOME.
SO THAT CLOSET CAN KILL
OTHER PEOPLE AND IT HAS.
BEFORE AIDS,
WE WERE CONCERNED
WITH PRIVACY.
AFTER AIDS,
THAT WAS COLLUSION
WITH GENOCIDE--
BEING SILENT,
BEING INVISIBLE--
PARTICULARLY IN AN ELECTED
OR APPOINTED OFFICIAL,
PARTICULARLY
IN AN ELECTED
OR APPOINTED OFFICIAL
WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY
IT IS TO RESPOND TO THIS
PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS--
AND THEY DIDN'T BECAUSE
THEY WERE CLOSETED GAYS.
( applause )
( musical number playing )
COME ON ALONG
AND LISTEN TO
THE LULLABY
OF BROADWAY.
McFarlane:
ED KOCH WAS MAYOR
OF NEW YORK CITY
AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO LIF A HAND TO HELP GAY PEOPLE.
HE WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING
THAT WAS REQUIRED
BY THE SITUATION.
FUCK YOU.
SAN FRANCISCO'S AIDS
ORGANIZATION
WAS GETTING MONEY FROM
THEIR MAYOR IN HUGE AMOUNTS.
WE WEREN'T GETTING ANYTHING.
AND IT PISSED ME OFF
MORE AND MORE AND MORE
BECAUSE WE ALL KNEW
HE WAS GAY.
Wayne Barrett:
NOW ED KOCH HAD ALWAYS
CONSISTENTLY IN HIS PUBLIC LIFE
REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS
ABOUT HIS SEXUALITY.
David Rothenberg:
WHEN ED'S THIRD OR FOURTH
TERM WAS COMING UP
I WAS ASKED THEN
BY PRESS PEOPLE
TO ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT RICHARD NATHAN
WAS ED'S FORMER LOVER.
AND SO I STONEWALLED THE PRESS
DURING THAT PRIMARY RACE
'CAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO BE
THE VOICE THAT OUTED
A CANDIDATE.
ABOUT '74 OR '75,
WHEN HE WAS IN CONGRESS,
ED KOCH WAS PLANNING
TO RUN FOR MAYOR
AND HE STARTED HAVING
SUNDAY-NIGHT POTLUCK SUPPERS
AT HIS APARTMEN IN THE VILLAGE.
ONE NIGHT, RICHARD AND I
WERE AT ED'S HOUSE
AND AS WE WERE DEPARTING,
ED SAID, "OH, RICHARD, STAY."
AND RICHARD SAID,
"NO, ED.I HAVE TO GO.
I'LL CALL YOU LATER."
SO AS WE WERE WALKING ACROSS
WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK,
I SAID, "WHAT WAS
THAT ALL ABOUT?
YOU AND THE CONGRESSMAN?"
AND HE SAID, "WE'RE HAVING
A RELATIONSHIP."
AND I SAID, "YOU MEAN,
LIKE A 'RELATIONSHIP'?"
AND HE SAID, "YEAH."
AND I SAID, "WHY?
YOU'RE A NICE-LOOKING
YOUNG MAN.
HE'S AN OLD AND NOT TERRIBLY
ATTRACTIVE MAN."
AND HE SAID,
"IT'S A REAL APHRODISIAC
WHEN YOU GET A CALL
FROM CONGRESS SAYING,
'I'M COMING IN. LET'S HAVE
DINNER FRIDAY NIGHT.'"
THE DAY ED KOCH
WAS INAUGURATED,
THERE WAS A PRIVATE PARTY.
WE WATCHED ED
COME IN WITH BESS,
CLUTCHING
THEIR PINKIES.
AND RICHARD SAID,
"I'M OUT OF HERE.
IT'S BEEN MADE CLEAR TO ME
THAT I HAVE TO LEAVE TOWN,
OR AT LEAS NOT BE IN THE PICTURE,
SO I'VE DECIDED TO MOVE
TO CALIFORNIA."
ABOUT A YEAR OR TWO
AFTER I GOT TO KNOW DICK,
HE SAID HE HAD SOMETHING
HE WANTED ME TO KNOW.
OVER THE COURSE
OF A COUPLE OF YEARS,
HE HAD BEEN LOVERS
OF ED KOCH
AND AFTER THEY BROKE UP,
ED HAD MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE
FOR HIM TO WORK IN NEW YORK.
NO INSTANCE
OF HOMOPHOBIA
HURT HIM MORE
THAN THE TREATMENT BY THE MAN
HE WAS IN LOVE WITH.
Kramer:
I WAS AT A FUNDRAISING EVEN IN LOS ANGELES IN '81.
A MAN CAME UP TO ME
AND SAID, "I'M DICK NATHAN."
THEN HE PROCEEDED TO TELL ME
ABOUT HIS AFFAIR WITH ED KOCH
AND WHAT A PIG HE WAS,
AND THAT HE WAS PREPARED FINALLY
TO COME AND ANNOUNCE PUBLICALLY
THAT ED KOCH WAS GAY,
WHICH WAS WHAT WE NEEDED.
HE CAME TO NEW YORK.
AND, OH BOY,
WE WERE BESIDE OURSELVES.
AND DICK NATHAN CAME
AND SAID, "I'M SORRY,
I CAN'T DO IT."
DICK WAS WORRIED
ABOUT HIS SAFETY.
AND DICK DID FEEL
THAT IF HE WENT PUBLIC,
HE WOULD SUFFER.
DICK WAS THREATENED,
PHYSICALLY THREATENED,
AND FINANCIALLY.
AND HE CAME AND HE WAS TERRIFIED
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT,
LEAVING THE CITY.
Gary Cathey:
I FIRST MET JIM McCRERY
IN THE FALL OF 1975
AT THE SIGMA NU
FRATERNITY HOUSE.
I KNEW FROM THE MOMENT WE ME THAT HE WAS INTERESTED.
AND IT WAS THE NEXT SUMMER
DURING SUMMER SCHOOL
THAT IT BEGAN.
THE MOMENT I SPOKE TO GARY,
I KNEW HE WAS TELLING THE TRUTH,
BUT NONETHELESS,
FOR HIS OWN PROTECTION
AND FOR THE PROTECTION
OF THE MAGAZINE,
WE WANTED TO SOURCE I AS THOUGH "THE NEW YORK TIMES"
WAS DOING IT.
SO WE FOUND
SEVERAL PEOPLE
WHO ALSO HAD
SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS
WITH JIM McCRERY
WHO HAD SIGNED
LEGAL AFFIDAVITS.
Man:
JIM IS SEVEN YEARS
MY SENIOR.
HE WOULD JUST APPEAR
AT THE FRATERNITY HOUSE
FROM TIME-- YOU KNOW,
HIS ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE,
SO TO SPEAK, IN THE FALL.
JIM USED
THE FRATERNITY HOUSE
AS HIS GAY BAR.
HE WOULD FIND YOUNG MEN
WHO HE THOUGH HE HAD A GOOD CHANCE
AT HAVING
A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH.
JIM WOULD COME
INTO MY ROOM AT NIGHTTIME,
COME TOUCH ME A LITTLE
INAPPROPRIATELY AT TIMES.
HE WAS MY FIRS SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP,
AS HE WAS A NUMBER
OF MY FRATERNITY BROTHERS.
Bull:
McCRERY WAS AMBITIOUS
TO THE POIN WHERE HE WOULD MAKE
MORAL COMPROMISES.
BUT WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN THAT MORAL COMPROMISING
IS ABOU YOUR OWN IDENTITY?
THE JIM I HAD--
AND EVERYONE HAD
ALWAYS KNOWN
HAD BEEN AN ATHEIST.
HE HAD GIVEN SPEECHES
ABOUT HIS LACK OF BELIEF.
HE WAS A DEMOCRAT,
VERY LIBERAL,
HAD NO PROBLEM
SAYING HIS OPINION
ON THE IMMORALITY
OF THE SODOMY LAWS,
THINGS LIKE THAT.
WHEN A GROUP OF BACKERS
CAME TO HIM
AND DECIDED THAT HE WAS GOING
TO BE THEIR CANDIDATE,
HE CHANGED HIS PARTY
AND THEN WENT DOWN
AND JOINED THE CHURCH
THAT HAD THE BIGGEST COLUMNS
FOR HIM TO HAVE
HIS CAMPAIGN PICTURES
TAKEN IN FRONT OF,
AND RAN AS A RIGHT-WING
CHRISTIAN COALITION
CANDIDATE.
HE BECAME A TOTALLY
DIFFERENT PERSON.
I'm Johnette McCrery.
I believe my husband Jim
is the kind of person
we need in Congress today.
He's good-hearted,
but he's not soft-hearted.
He's sensitive
without being foolish.
IN 1992,
JIM CAME TO MY HOUSE,
SPENT THE NIGH AND WE HAD SEX.
WE NEVER DISCUSSED
HIS POLITICAL PLATFORM
OR WHAT HE BELIEVED IN.
WE JUST HAD SEX.
Bottom line,
Jim's a good husband,
a good father
and a good congressman.
He gets my vote.
Would you please give him
yours on election day?
Cathey:
TO BE ABLE TO LIVE
THIS KIND OF A LIE,
THIS HAS GONE ON NOW
FOR 17, 18-- NO, 20!
--20 YEARS.
THAT'S THE MAIN THING THA ATTRACTED ME TO MITT ROMNEY
WAS HIS STRONG SENSE
OF PERSONAL COMMITMEN TO HIS WIFE,
HIS FAMILY,
TO HIS VALUES.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING
HE JUST TALKS ABOUT.
IT'S SOMETHING HE LIVES.
Cathey:
THE CLOSEST THING
TO A TURNING POIN WAS WHEN I WENT TO THE GRAVE
OF A SIGMA NU BROTHER
THAT DIED OF AIDS.
JIM KNEW HIM WELL.
ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS.
STANDING OVER THAT GRAVE,
IT DID A LOT.
IT LET ME KNOW
THAT I HAD TO DO IT.
I HAD TO DO IT.
THERE WAS SOME ATTENTION
IN THE NATIONAL MEDIA,
VERY, VERY LITTLE ON
A LOCAL LEVEL.
THE NON-GAY PRESS SAW I AS SORT OF DISTASTEFUL.
THEY DIDN'T COVER
GAY LIFE AT ALL,
EXCEPT MAYBE THE MOS DRAMATIC ELEMENTS OF IT.
IT WAS GARY
THAT REAPED ALL
THE HAVOC FROM THIS.
HE WAS SHUNNED
BY THE COMMUNITY.
HIS PARENTS RECEIVED
ALL SORTS OF HATE MAIL.
AND JIM--
NOTHING HAPPENED TO JIM.
HE WAS ELEVATED
EVEN HIGHER.
Cathey:
JIM IS RETIRING
FROM A GREA CONGRESSIONAL CAREER--
THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS
OF HONORS AND AWARDS.
HOW MANY OF THOSE
WOULD HE HAVE GOTTEN
IF HE HAD BEEN
TRUE TO HIMSELF?
Rogers:
WHAT I FEEL THAT I'M DOING
IN THIS OUTING WORK,
IT'S NOT ABOUT ANYBODY
WHO'S ALIVE TODAY.
IT'S ABOUT TOMORROW'S
GENERATION
AND THE ONE AFTER
AND THE ONE AFTER,
'CAUSE THIS HATE,
THIS VITRIOL,
IT'S GENERATIONAL
FOR THESE ANTI-GAY PEOPLE.
McFarlane:
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
OF THE GOOD ACTIVISTS--
IT IS ALL DRIVEN BY RAGE,
RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION.
PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING AND DYING
BECAUSE SOME
SELF-PROMOTING ASSHOLE
IS TELLING A LIE.
ACTIVISM IS ABOUT ANGER.
ACTIVISM
IS ABOUT RESPONDING
TO SOMETHING THAT YOU
KNOW IS WRONG
- AND YOU DON'T LIKE IT.
- ( elevator dings )
Sure.
We're here for the consideration
of H.J.RES.106
proposing an amendment
to the Constitution of
the United States
relating to marriage
as well as H.R.319...
DREIER'S VOTING
IS A MATTER OF RECORD.
IT IS WITHOUT QUESTION
SOMEWHAT HOSTILE TO GAYS.
AND, IN FACT,
HE IS A FRONTLINE MEMBER
OF A POLITICAL PARTY
WHERE A CONSIDERABLE WING
OF THAT POLITICAL PARTY
IS OPENLY HOSTILE TO GAYS.
Steven Clemons:
DAVID DREIER OFFICIALLY
STILL DENIES BEING GAY,
DESPITE LOTS OF EVIDENCE
TO THE CONTRARY.
YOU COULD HEAR IN THE NEWSROOM,
JUST OCCASIONALLY WHEN
A STORY WOULD COME UP,
THAT DREIER WAS QUOTE--
WHAT I REALIZED BEFORE LONG,
IT WAS CODE WORDS--
"CONFIRMED BACHELOR,"
"CONSERVATIVE BACHELOR,"
"DAPPER BACHELOR."
ONE OF THE BIG TIPS I GOT WAS,
"CHECK OUT THE BOYFRIEND."
I'M LIKE,
"WHO'S THE BOYFRIEND?"
"THE CHIEF OF STAFF."
I'M LIKE, "OHH, THAT'S
INTERESTING."
SO THEN WE INITIATED
A WHOLE INVESTIGATION.
I GO DOWN TO THE CAPITAL
AND I COPY EVERY TRAVEL RECORD
OF BRAD SMITH,
WHO'S THE CHIEF OF STAFF,
AND DAVID DREIER,
WHO'S THE CONGRESSMAN.
THEY SAID, "OH WELL,
HE TRAVELS WITH HIM."
AND I'M LIKE,
"WELL, THESE ARE
DIFFERENT DATES...
ONE DAY APAR ON ALL THE TRIPS."
( camera shutter clicking )
IF THERE WAS A CONGRESSMAN
WHO TRAVELED WITH HIS
CHIEF OF STAFF CONTINUOUSLY
AROUND THE WORLD,
TRAVELING ONE DAY
BEFORE OR ONE DAY AFTER,
THAT WOULD BE
IN THE NEWSPAPER.
BUT BECAUSE HE'S
SLEEPING WITH A MAN,
BECAUSE IT'S TWO DICKS
INSTEAD OF ONE,
THAT'S THEIR PROBLEM.
WE'RE NOT ASKING DREIER
WHAT POSITION HE LIKES,
HOW MANY LOVERS HE'S HAD,
WHERE HE LIKES TO GET IT ON.
THESE AREN'T THE QUESTIONS
WE WANT TO PUT TO DREIER.
THE QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD
BE PUT TO DREIER ARE:
"THIS IS YOUR VOTING RECORD.
THIS IS YOUR PARTY'S PLATFORM,
ITS PLANK, ITS POSITIONS,
AND IT SEEMS TO RUN
ABSOLUTELY CONTRADICTORY
TO THE WAY YOU'VE LIVED
YOUR PERSONAL LIFE."
WHEN HE CAME ON MY PROGRAM
DURING THE REPUBLICAN
CONVENTION,
I ASKED HIM STRAIGHT OUT.
There have been a lot
of rumors that you
yourself are gay.
And people feel it's
hypocritical of you--
- ( Dreier speaking )
- --to not speak up in favor
of same-sex marriage.
Are you saying
you're heterosexual?
A STRAIGHT GUY,
THERE'S NO WAY HE'LL
ANSWER THAT QUESTION
WITH, "I'M NOT REALLY
HERE TO TALK ABOUT THAT."
HE'S GONNA SAY,
"YEAH, I'M STRAIGHT.
SO WHAT?"
Would you think
it's hypocritical
if a gay politician
were voting against
gay people?
YOU KNOW, I HAPPEN
TO LIKE DAVID DREIER'S
POLITICAL AND POLICY WORK
ON MANY FRONTS.
AND HE LOST OU IN BEING THE NEW
REPUBLICAN LEADER
INSIDE A CAUCUS INSIDE
THE REPUBLICAN COMMUNITY
BECAUSE OF THE GAY
IDENTITY ISSUE.
Did you expect
to get the job
( slaps desk )
that Roy Blunt got?
No, this is not something
that I pursued.
I mean, yes, I was
talked to about this.
And frankly, I said no,
that I didn't want to do it.
Now who talked
to you about it?
Is this--
You know, I don't want
to get into that, Charlie.
THE EVANGELICAL CONSERVATIVE
WING OF THE PARTY
CAME IN AND SAID,
"NOT FOR ONE MINUTE.
NOT ON YOUR LIFE.
DAVID DREIER'S A CLOSETED GAY.
THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM FOR US.
AND IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN."
I THINK IT WAS
A REAL SAD THING
THAT THE COUNTRY LOS SOMEONE LIKE DAVID DREIER
MOVING INTO REPUBLICAN
LEADERSHIP OVER BEING GAY.
THE ULTIMATE IRONY?
I BELIEVE IF DAVID DREIER
CALLED A PRESS CONFERENCE
TOMORROW AND ANNOUNCED,
"THIS IS MY TRUTH--
30 YEARS IN COMING,
BUT THIS IS MY TRUTH."
I THINK HE'D PROBABLY
BE RE-ELECTED.
IF HE DECIDES
TO EVENTUALLY COME OUT,
HE'LL DO SO WHEN
HE DECIDES TO RETIRE
FROM THE HOUSE.
THAT'S A TRAGEDY.
IT'S MUCH BETTER
TO HAVE SOMEONE
OF DAVID DREIER'S
REALLY BRILLIAN LEGISLATIVE SKILL
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FINALLY COMING OUT OF HIS
OWN VOLITION.
SO IS THERE AN EFFORT?
PROBABLY.
HAS HE MOVED?
NO.
Alexander Robinson:
LESBIAN AND GAY ISSUES
ARE UNDER-REPORTED
AND UNDER-COVERED IN THE MEDIA
SOMETIMES BECAUSE
OUR ALLIES IN THE MEDIA
ARE TRYING TO BE SENSITIVE
TO NOT OUT SOMEBODY.
ALL OF MY STRAIGH FRIENDS IN THE MEDIA
HANDLE THIS ISSUE BADLY,
UM, BECAUSE I THINK
IT'S DISCOMFITING.
THEY DON'T KNOW
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
Right after the break,
we're gonna interview
Erik Weihenmayer
who climbed the highest mountain
in the world, Mount Everest.
But he's gay!
I mean, he's gay--
excuse me. He's blind.
So we'll hear
about that coming up.
PEOPLE WILL WRITE
ABOUT MY RELIGION.
THEY WILL WRITE ABOUT MY HEIGHT,
WRITE ABOUT MY SCHOOLING.
THEY WILL WRITE ABOU A WHOLE RANGE OF THINGS.
IF THEY WON'T WRITE
ABOUT MY SEXUALITY,
THEY'RE IN EFFECT SAYING,
"THE POOR SO-AND-SO.
THAT IS SUCH A TERRIBLE FAC WE HAVE TO KEEP IT SECRET."
JOURNALISTS ARE IN THE BUSINESS
OF TELLING THE TRUTH.
THEY SHOULD BE CONSTANTLY
REEVALUATING WHAT THEY'RE DOING
AND LOOKING AT WHY
THEY TREAT HOMOSEXUALITY
AND HETEROSEXUALITY DIFFERENTLY.
MY FAMILY JOKES THAT WHEN
THEY WATCH THE NEWS WITH ME
LIKE, "THAT REPORTER'S GAY."
IT PERMEATES THE MEDIA HERE.
ALL THE REPORTERS ARE GAY.
YOU KNOW?
CNN AND FOX, THE SAME ONES
WHO ARE COVERING THE STORY,
THEY'RE PART OF
THE WASHINGTON CULTURE TOO.
SO FOR THEM TO BE AMBITIOUS,
THEY DON'T TALK ABOU THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION
AND HAVEN'T FOR YEARS.
Announcer:
Live from New York,
this is "The Fox Report"
with Shepard Smith.
J-Lo's new song
"Jenny from the Block,"
all about Lopez's roots,
about how she's still
a neighborhood gal at heart.
But folks from
the Bronx section
sound more likely
to give her a curb job
than a blowjob--
or block party.
I'm sorry about
that slip up there.
I have no idea
how that happened,
but it won't happen again.
I WAS AT A BAR IN NEW YORK,
A GAY PIANO BAR
ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE
CALLED "BRANDY'S."
WE SAT DOWN
NEXT TO THIS GUY
AND IT WAS SHEPARD SMITH
FROM FOX NEWS.
HE STARTED
CHATTING ME UP
AND BUYING ME DRINKS.
AND, UH, HE ASKED ME
IF I'D COME BACK TO
HIS APARTMENT...
( chuckles )
AT 3:00 IN THE MORNING.
A YEAR WENT BY AND HE STARTED
GETTING A LOT OF EXPOSURE
AS THE NEW RISING STAR
OF CABLE TV NEWS.
HE WAS GRANTING
INTERVIEWS TO REPORTERS
AND BEING PROFILED
IN "THE NEW YORK TIMES"
AND WAS BEING MORE THAN COY
ABOUT HIS SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
BECAUSE IT WAS ASKED,
AND HE WAS EITHER LYING
OR DODGING THE QUESTION.
IT WAS AT THAT POIN THAT I SAID, "OKAY,
TIME TO COME OUT."
I THINK I TO THIS DAY REMAINS
THE MOST POPULAR COLUMN
THAT I'VE EVER WRITTEN.
EVERYONE LOVES
A GOOD OUTING.
Tom Sheridan:
THIS TOWN IS FULL
OF GAY PEOPLE.
I REMEMBER WHEN
I FIRST MOVED HERE
THINKING HOW GAY IT WAS.
SOMETIMES I THINK
WASHINGTON'S MORE GAY
THAN SAN FRANCISCO IS.
Birch:
CAPITOL HILL IS PACKED
WITH GAY STAFFERS.
THERE ARE SO MANY
OF THEM.
YOU CAN'T SWING
A DEAD CA WITHOUT HITTING
A GAY STAFFER.
Jose Antonio Vargas:
THERE'S A RUNNING JOKE
THAT GAY MEN MAKE
CAPITOL HILL RUN ON TIME.
THEY DON'T HAVE A WIFE
OR CHILDREN TO GO HOME TO,
SO THEY CAN WORK
REALLY LONG HOURS.
I THINK IF THEY
TRIED TO FIRE GAY STAFF
LIKE THEY DO BOOTING PEOPLE
OUT OF THE MILITARY,
THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
WOULD SCREECH TO A HALT.
TO THIS DAY, I HAVE NO SEEN ANY PLACE LIKE IT.
SO IT IS PROBABLY
THE MOST GAY PLACE.
UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S PROBABLY
STILL THE MOST CLOSETED PLACE.
THERE ARE SCORES
OF CLOSETED REPUBLICANS
AND DEMOCRATS,
I MIGHT ADD,
WHO JUST BECAUSE
OF THEIR LIFE JOURNEY,
BECAUSE OF THEIR
GENERATIONAL EXPERIENCE,
BECAUSE OF THEIR DESIRE
NOT TO BE VULNERABLE
IN TERMS OF
GETTING RE-ELECTED,
HAVE CHOSEN TO STAY
IN THE CLOSET.
( phone beeps )
YEAH?
Frank:
FROM THE DAY I FIRST GO ELECTED TO PUBLIC OFFICE
IN 1972, I WAS CLOSETED
FOR THE FIRST 15
OF THOSE YEARS.
MY ORIGINAL VIEW
WAS THAT I COULD BE
PUBLICALLY
KIND OF NEUTRAL,
AND PRIVATELY
I COULD LIVE THE LIFE
OF A GAY MAN.
BUT IT DOESN'T WORK.
BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE
REASONABLY PROMINENT,
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
YOU CAN'T GO TO BARS
TO MEET PEOPLE.
YOU CAN'T--
( stammers )
YOU CAN'T MEET PEOPLE
WITHOUT OUTING YOURSELF,
SO IT'S KIND OF HARD TO BE
PUBLIC AND CLOSETED.
THERE WERE LOTS OF RUMORS
THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND.
AND I WAS ALWAYS CONCERNED
ABOUT WHAT KINDS OF THINGS
WOULD COME UP IN A CAMPAIGN
OR WHAT THINGS MIGHT BE SAID.
SO, YOU KNOW,
THERE WAS THAT KIND
OF THING THAT GNAWS AT YOU.
IT'S JUST THERE.
IT'S SITTING ON YOUR SHOULDER
LIKE A LITTLE TWEETY BIRD
SITTING ON YOUR SHOULDER
ABOUT TO CHIRP AT YOU.
AND YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN
IT'S GOING TO DO THAT.
IF YOU ARE A LESBIAN
DEEPLY IN THE CLOSE AND YOU'RE HAVING
A CONVERSATION ABOUT,
YOU KNOW, WHO YOU
SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH,
YOU EITHER HAVE TO LIE
AND SAY "HE"
RATHER THAN "SHE"
IN REFERRING
TO YOUR PARTNER,
BUT ALTERNATIVELY
USING GENDERLESS PRONOUNS.
"WE HAD A GOOD WEEKEND."
AND, YOU KNOW,
JUST SORT OF AVOIDING IT.
AND REALLY, THAT TAKES
A LOT OF ENERGY TO DO
TO MAKE SURE
YOUR STORY'S STRAIGHT,
SO TO SPEAK.
Neil Guiliano:
WHEN YOU'RE LIVING
IN THE CLOSET,
THE FEAR IS THAT SOMEONE'S
GOING TO EXPOSE YOU
FOR THEIR POLITICAL GAIN
TO TAKE YOU DOWN.
AND SO YOU'RE ALWAYS
WONDERING,
"IS THIS THE CONVERSATION?
IS THIS THE PERSON?
IS THIS THE SITUATION?"
WHEN I RAN FOR MAYOR
THE FIRST TIME,
I RECEIVED THREAT LETTERS
AND THREAT PHONE CALLS.
I'VE SAVED THE LETTERS
AND ONE OF THEM SAID,
"WE'RE COMING
TO THE PUBLIC FORUM
AND WE'RE GOING
TO EXPOSE YOU
SO ALL YOUR SUPPORTERS
WILL KNOW
THAT YOU'RE
REALLY A GAY MAN."
FOR ANYONE TO KNOW
THAT YOU'RE GAY,
TO BE THE GAY "ANYTHING,"
WOULD BE THE WORST THING
IN THE WORLD TO HAPPEN TO YOU.
YOU COULD LOSE YOUR FAMILY.
YOU COULD LOSE YOUR JOB.
YOU COULD LOSE YOUR POWER
OR POLITICAL POSITION.
YOU COULD LOSE YOUR SEA IN CONGRESS.
I'VE HAD MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
CRYING IN MY ARMS
BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW
HOW TO COME OUT.
WHEN YOU TRY
TO COMPARTMENTALIZE
ALL THESE PARTS
OF YOUR LIFE
AND IF YOU TRY TO SHOVE YOUR
SEXUAL ORIENTATION INTO A BOX
AND KEEP IT FROM
YOUR CONSTITUENTS,
IT HAS VERY DEADLY
CONSEQUENCES.
McGreevy:
Good afternoon.
Throughout my life,
I have grappled
with my own identity--
who I am.
As a young child,
I often felt ambivalent
about myself,
in fact, confused.
From the first words out
of his mouth this afternoon,
it was clear Jim McGreevy,
the governor of New Jersey,
was making
very big news indeed.
At a point
in every person's life,
one has to look deeply
into the mirror of one's soul
and decide
one's unique truth.
And beyond the facts
and allegations and anguish
immediately
surrounding his story,
what the governor
said today
also becomes part
of a larger story
at a turning point
for the country.
And so my truth is that
I am a gay American.
Anchor:
Another boundary
of American politics
has been crossed today.
With his wife by his side,
the governor announced
that he is gay,
that he had an affair
with a man, and that he
would resign.
His announcement
makes him the highest-ranking
American politician...
McGreevey:
I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND
THAT EVEN IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL
THAT SOMEHOW I WAS
PROFOUNDLY DIFFERENT.
NO ONE COMES UP TO YOU
AND TELLS YOU THA YOU'RE AFRICAN-AMERICAN,
OR JEWISH-AMERICAN
OR IRISH-AMERICAN.
YOU DISCOVER YOU'RE GAY
BY YOURSELF.
AND I WAS GOING
TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AND LOOKING FOR
"WHAT IS HOMOSEXUALITY?
WHAT ARE ITS ORIGINS?"
AND HOW IT'S DESCRIBED.
IT WAS ALL HORRIFIC.
IT WAS ALL APOCALYPTIC.
IT WAS A CURSE.
I ACCEPTED ALL THOSE
MESSAGES OF SHAME
AND MESSAGES OF HATE,
MESSAGES OF IGNORANCE.
BUT YOU REALIZE
IT'S INTRINSIC.
IT'S WHO
AND WHAT YOU ARE.
AND SO YOU DENY
THIS THING,
BUT WHAT HAPPENS IS
IT COMES OUT.
AND IT COMES OU IN DARK PLACES.
YOU BEGIN TO BELIEVE
THAT IT IS SHAMEFUL
BECAUSE YOU WERE ACTING,
FOR ME, IN SHAMEFUL WAYS.
I MEAN,
WHERE AM I HAVING SEX?
I'M HAVING SEX IN BACK ALLEYS
OF ABANDONED SYNAGOGUES.
I'M HAVING SEX
IN REST STOPS.
THE FACT IS
MY STRAIGHT FRIENDS
WERE PICKING UP
THEIR GIRLFRIENDS
IN BARS AND AT PARTIES
AND DOING IT WHEREVER.
I DIDN'T HAVE
THAT OPPORTUNITY
TO DO IT IN PUBLIC WAYS
THAT WERE HEALTHY,
THAT WERE SAFE
AND THAT WERE ACCEPTED.
AND SO BY DOING I IN SECRET CLOSETED WAYS,
I BELIEVE IT IS UNHEALTHY
FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY,
IT IS UNHEALTHY
FOR THE BEING
AND IT WAS UNHEALTHY
FOR MY SOUL.
Dave Karsnia over tape:
All right, so let's start
from the beginning.
- You went in the bathroom.
- Craig: I went in the bathroom.
I got in a stall,
sat down
and I started to go
to the bathroom.
Did our feet come together?
Apparently, they did bump.
Let me be clear:
I am not gay.
I never have been gay.
HE DOESN'T THINK HE'S GAY.
YOU KNOW WHAT?
HE'S NOT GAY.
MAYBE HE'S HOMOSEXUAL
OR SOMETHING, I DON'T KNOW.
NOT "GAY" AS IN IDENTIFIED
POLITICALLY WITH OUR TRIBE.
WHO KNOWS IF LARRY CRAIG
IS GAY OR NOT?
BUT WHATEVER HE IS,
IT'S POSSIBLE THA HE'S ACTUALLY PART OF US.
WE DON'T WANT HIM,
BUT IT'S POSSIBLE
HE'S ACTUALLY PAR OF OUR COMMUNITY.
I THINK THERE ARE A LO OF PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY
IN HIS GENERATION--
AND IT'S STILL POSSIBLE
IN YOUNGER GENERATIONS--
FOR PEOPLE TO BE
SO TERRIFIED INTERNALLY
OF THEIR OWN
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
THAT THEY LITERALLY JUS SUPPRESS IT TO SUCH AN EXTENT,
THAT THEY CAN'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE
IT WHILE ACTING AS IT.
Interviewer:
ARE YOU TECHNICALLY
NOT A HOMOSEXUAL?
IS IT POSSIBLE
YOU'RE BISEXUAL?
IT'S NO TO BOTH.
THE OTHER QUESTION
IS DO YOU THINK
IT WOULD BE SOMETHING
THAT WOULD BE AWFUL?
IN OTHER WORDS,
DO YOU VIEW IT AS SOMETHING
THAT WOULD BE AWFUL
TO HAVE TO ADMI THAT YOU WERE GAY?
I DON'T AGREE
WITH THE LIFESTYLE.
AND I'VE SAID SO
BY MY VOTES OVER THE YEARS.
Matthew Weissman:
I THINK THAT FOR A LO OF GAY PEOPLE
WHO MAY HARBOR SOME
VERY, VERY DEEP
INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA,
ONE OF THE WAYS
THAT THEY FEEL BETTER
ABOUT THEMSELVES
IS BY ALIGNING THEMSELVES
WITH THE FORCES
THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY WAN TO DO HARM TO THEM.
Signorile:
AS A TEENAGER,
I WAS LABELED A FAG.
AND WHAT I WOULD DO
IN ORDER TO BATTLE THA AND FIGHT THA WAS I WOULD JOIN UP
WITH THE OTHER GUYS
WHO WOULD BASH
OTHER GAY BOYS
TO PROVE THA "HEY, I'M NOT A FAG.
I'LL EVEN BEAT UP ONE."
AND THAT, GOING BACK,
IS REALLY WHAT WE SEE TODAY
IN SO MANY PEOPLE
WHO ARE IN CONGRESS
VOTING AGAINST GAY PEOPLE.
IT'S THE SAME THING
I WAS DOING AS A TEENAGER.
THEY ARE BASHING
OTHER GAY PEOPLE
IN ORDER TO PROVE
THAT THEY'RE NOT GAY.
I'VE NEVER SEEN
ANYTHING IN HISTORY
THAT-- WHERE DEEPLY ANTI-
OR HOMOPHOBIC ACTIVITIES
HAVEN'T BEEN AT SOME LEVEL
PERPETUATED OR FOSTERED
BY PEOPLE WHO WERE GAY.
LOOK AT McCARTHYISM
AND THE WITCH HUNTS--
LED BY A CLOSETED GAY:
ROY COHN, A TRUE EVIL BASTARD.
Gross:
THE TARGET GROUPS
OF WITCH HUNTS
AND PROSECUTION
WERE COMMUNISTS
AND QUEERS.
ROY COHN SUPPORTED LOTS
OF REALLY DREADFUL PEOPLE
WHO WERE COMPLETELY
HOMOPHOBIC,
AND IN SOME WAYS
WAS HIMSELF HOMOPHOBIC.
HE HAD A LO OF NEGATIVE FEELINGS
ABOUT OUT GAY PEOPLE.
ROY COHN IS NOT A HOMOSEXUAL.
ROY COHN IS
A HETEROSEXUAL MAN, HENRY,
WHO FUCKS AROUND WITH GUYS.
I HAD TO TAKE
MY BEST SHO AT TRYING TO FIGURE OU HOW THAT COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
IS NAVIGATED
INSIDE OF SOMEBODY.
AND I FEEL LIKE I DID
A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF IT.
I MEAN, THE SCENE
THAT EVERYBODY LOVES BEST IS
WHEN HE'S DIAGNOSED WITH AIDS
AND HE SAYS TO HIS DOCTOR,
"I'M NOT A GAY MAN."
NOW TO SOMEONE WHO
DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THIS,
HOMOSEXUAL IS WHAT I AM
BECAUSE I HAVE SEX WITH MEN,
BUT REALLY THIS IS WRONG.
HOMOSEXUALS ARE NOT MEN
WHO SLEEP WITH OTHER MEN.
HOMOSEXUALS ARE MEN
WHO IN 15 YEARS OF TRYING
CANNOT PASS A PISSAN ANTIDISCRIMINATION BILL
THROUGH CITY COUNCIL.
HOMOSEXUALS ARE MEN
WHO KNOW NOBODY
AND WHO NOBODY KNOWS,
WHO HAVE ZERO CLOUT.
THAT RATIONALE GOES
SOMETHING LIKE THIS--
IT TOOK ME AWHILE
TO FIGURE IT OUT--
BUT IT WAS SORT OF LIKE,
"RICH, YOU ARE A WEAK GAY
BECAUSE YOU CAME OUT.
I AM A STRONGER PERSON
BECAUSE I REMAIN
NOT PART OF A GAY
LIBERAL COMMUNITY.
I AM STILL
A CONSERVATIVE.
I AM EVERYTHING I WANT.
I DON'T PUSH MY AGENDA
ON ANYONE.
STRAIGHTS DON'T PUSH
THEIR SEXUAL LIVES.
WHY SHOULD WE?"
AND IT'S VERY--
I'VE HEARD THIS
A MILLION TIMES,
AND IT'S VERY WARPED.
BUT IT WAS SORT OF LIKE,
"YOU COULDN'T HAVE THE STAMINA
TO STAY IN THE CLOSET."
THEY'RE VERY CAREFUL.
IT'S LIKE A BROADWAY SHOW.
POLITICS IS LIKE
A BROADWAY SHOW TO THEM
IN THAT EVERYTHING IS STAGED,
EVERYTHING IS PLANNED,
EVERY WORD THAT COMES OU OF SOMEBODY'S MOUTH
IS SCRIPTED.
Today is a special day
in my life.
It's not just
Valentine's Day.
It happens to be
the anniversary of
the first date
I had with my wife
Suzanne.
Am I a romantic?
Well, maybe just a little bit.
Reporter:
Even after the Craigs
got married
and he adopted
her three children
from a previous marriage,
the rumors about
her husband persisted.
THEY WERE SAYING
THAT IT WAS A MARRIAGE
OF CONVENIENCE.
TO COVER
A GAY LIFESTYLE?
OH, GIVE ME A BREAK.
McFarlane:
I KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE
TO SAY IN PUBLIC
AND I ACTUALLY
KIND OF ADMIRE 'EM
FOR BEING ABLE TO GIVE
THAT PERFORMANCE.
I'M SURE I COULDN'T.
UH, BUT THAT'S
SOME WEIRD SHIT.
PEOPLE KNOW ME
AND KNOW THAT I
WOULD NEVER DO THAT.
THAT'S ALMOS LIKE SELLING YOUR SOUL
FOR SOMETHING.NO!
Catania:
WHERE DO YOU FIND
THE SPOUSES
OF THESE PEOPLE
WHO STICK WITH THEM?
I MEAN, THAT IS SO BIZARRE.
HOW DO YOU STAND NEX TO YOUR HUSBAND
AFTER HE'S BEEN
IN A STALL?
I MEAN, I WOULD HAVE
BEEN GOING TO--
I'D HAVE HEADED TO A SHOWER
FOR A "SILKWOOD" SCRUBDOWN
OR CERTAINLY
TO AN STD CLINIC.
I WOULDN'T BE
AT THE WHISTLE-STOP CAFE
STANDING BY HIM.
IS SHE INSANE?
WHAT INTERESTS ME MORE
AND I THINK WHAT IS MORE COMMON
ARE THESE STRAIGHT WOMEN
WHO ARE MARRIED
TO CLOSETED GAY MEN
WHO DON'T KNOW.
I engaged in an adult
consensual affair
with another man
which violates
my bonds of matrimony.
I DATED JIM FOR FOUR YEARS
BEFORE WE WERE MARRIED,
SO I THOUGHT I KNEW HIM.
PEOPLE ALWAYS SAY,
"OH, THERE HAD TO BE SIGNS."
I HAD TO KNOW THIS WAS
AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.
OUR SEX LIFE,
OUR RELATIONSHIP--
THERE WAS NOTHING--
OUR INTIMACY--
THERE WAS NOTHING TO INDICATE
THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM.
I HAD NEVER
BEEN MARRIED BEFORE
SO I COULDN'T COMPARE I TO ANOTHER MARRIAGE.
BUT FROM TALKING
TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY,
IT WAS A NORMAL
RELATIONSHIP.
James McGreevy:
IF YOU'RE KEEPING
A DOUBLE LEDGER
FROM THE SECOND
OF YOUR MORNING BREATH
TO THE TIME
YOU GO TO BED AT NIGHT,
IT'S LIKE A BAD
"STAR TREK" EPISODE--
YOU HAVE TO DISCERN
WHICH FOO IS IN WHICH UNIVERSE
AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
YOU'RE PLAYING
IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE,
BUT IT'S NOT INTEGRATED,
IT'S NOT HONEST,
IT'S NOT WHOLESOME
AND IT'S NOT TRANSPARENT.
Dina McGreevy:
NONE OF THAT WAS REAL.
NONE OF THOSE FEELINGS
OF THOSE EMOTIONS
WERE REAL
FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE.
IT WAS ALL AN ACT.
WHAT PART OF MY LIFE
AND MY MARRIAGE WAS REAL?
WAS THAT TRIP REAL?
WAS THAT VACATION REAL?
WHAT ABOUT I WAS AUTHENTIC?
IF YOUR HUSBAND LEAVES YOU
FOR ANOTHER WOMAN
OR IF YOUR WIFE LEAVES YOU
FOR ANOTHER MAN,
AT SOME POINT YOU HAD
FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER
SO AT SOME POIN THERE WAS LOVE.
IN MY CASE, I DON'T THINK
HE EVER FELT THAT FOR ME.
James McGreevy:
THERE WERE MOMENTS OF PASSION,
BUT AT THAT POINT,
I WASN'T READY TO ACCEP EVEN WHO AND WHAT I AM.
SO TO BE TOTALLY
OPEN WITH HER,
I WOULD HAVE HAD
TO ACCEPT MYSELF
AND THEN SHARE I WITH SOMEBODY I LOVED.
TO A CERTAIN POIN THEY ARE THE VICTIM,
BUT THEY MADE
THEIR OWN CHOICES
ABOUT HOW THEY WERE GONNA
LIVE THEIR LIVES.
God the Father,
God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit,
bless, preserve and keep you.
Dina McGreevy:
WHEN I THINK, IT HAD
TO BE TORTURE
FOR HIM TO GO THROUGH LIFE
TRYING TO LIVE AS SOMEONE
HE CLEARLY WASN' COMFORTABLE BEING...
( all applauding )
...BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE
TO DESTROY MY LIFE
OR MY DAUGHTER'S LIFE
OR ANYBODY ELSE'S LIFE.
It was wrong.
It was foolish.
It was inexcusable.
And for this,
I ask the forgiveness
and the grace of my wife.
She has been extraordinary
throughout this ordeal...
Crist:
I'VE BEEN PRIVILEGED
TO SERVE PEOPLE
OF THIS GREAT STATE
WE CALL FLORIDA.
SHE IS THE STATE
WITH THE PRETTIEST NAME
- AND I LOVE HER.
- ( applause )
Testing testing,
one two three.
Reporter:
At first glance,
Kelly Crosby Heyniger
seems like a typical
suburban mom,
but what makes her unique
is the company she keeps.
Heyniger:
He's a great guy,
a lot of fun.
He's real.
He wants to make
a difference.
Reporter:
"He" is Florida Governor
Charlie Crist.
Kelly was set up on a date
with him for a charity event
on Jupiter Island
several months ago.
James McGreevy:
YOU'D ACTUALLY WANT RUMORS.
I MEAN, I'D GO TO GO-GO BARS
WITH MY BUDDIES.
MY GAY FRIENDS
SAID AFTERWARDS,
"WHAT DID YOU DO
FOR THOSE HOURS?"
Heyniger:
We have a good relationship.
I enjoy his company
and I think
he enjoys mine too,
but I don't like
to project.
I WOULD SOR OF PARSE WORDS WHEN PEOPLE
WOULD CONFRONT ME,
"OH, I HEAR RUMORS
THAT YOU'RE GAY."
I'M LIKE,
"OH, THAT'S CRAZY."
"YOU'RE A HOMOSEXUAL?"
"NO, THAT'S ABSURD.
THERE'S RUMORS ABOU EVERYBODY IN POLITICS."
SO YOU'D BE DISMISSIVE.
Interviewer:
Charlie, let me ask you this:
- Are you a homo?
- ( Crist speaking )
Okay, I didn't think so.
I can attest
because I've seen you
with some great-looking women.
I go... ( babbles )
Reporter:
Rumors that Crist
is gay have been printed
in alternative newspapers
and online. He denies it.
And Kelly doesn't give that
speculation a second thought.
Do people say stuff
to you about that?
Mm, they do,
but when you put yourself
in front of the public eye,
someone is always gonna have
something negative to say,
whether it be true or not.
Sheridan:
THE CLOSET FOR ME IN
THE CONTEXT OF POWER POLITICS
IS ACTUALLY
QUITE DANGEROUS.
I THINK IT DEEPLY CONVOLUTES
YOUR PERSPECTIVE
ON WHAT'S RIGH AND WHAT'S WRONG.
I THINK IT MAKES YOU
LESS GENUINE.
I THINK PEOPLE WHO ARE CLOSETED
AND INVOLVED IN POLITICS
ARE INTERESTED
IN CONTINUALLY COVERING UP
WHO THEY ARE
AND WHAT THEY ARE,
WHICH I THINK DELIVERS
A VERY NEGATIVE PUBLIC POLICY.
Frank:
YOU KNOW, IN 1976,
GERRY FORD AND JIMMY CARTER
WERE ABOUT EVEN ON GAY RIGHTS.
SINCE THEN THE DEMOCRATS
HAVE GOTTEN BETTER
AND THE REPUBLICANS
CAPTURED BY THE RIGHT WING
HAVE GOTTEN WORSE.
McFarlane:
STARTING IN THE EARLY '70s,
JOE COORS
AND A NUMBER OF PEOPLE
PAID JUSTICE LEWIS POWELL
BEFORE HE WAS ON THE
SUPREME COUR TO WRITE WHAT WE CALL
"THE POWELL MANIFESTO."
NOW IT'S BASICALLY
A CONCRETE BUSINESS PLAN
ON HOW TO ENSURE
FREE ENTERPRISE IN PERPETUITY.
AND WITH WHAT WE CALL
THE NINE FAMILIES--
THE BRADLEYS, THE SCAIFES,
THE OLINS, THE COORS--
THIS HUGE
MACHINE WAS BUILT:
MEDIA MONITORS
AND JUDICIAL WATCHES
AND ELEGANT LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
AND THINK TANKS
THAT COME UP WITH ISSUES
THAT WILL PANDER
TO CERTAIN VOTERS.
AND WHAT POPPED UP
FOR THEM
LIKE A GIFT WAS
GAY MARRIAGE.
( "Ode to Joy" playing )
AND THEY WENT, "EUREKA!
THIS IS WHAT WE'LL USE."
Dramatic announcer:
God, as California goes,
so goes the nation.
A confrontation
between light and darkness
will happen this November.
A battle to save
the very sanctity of marriage.
To the victor goes
the soul of the nation!
These gays is going to hell!
This abomination
in the sight of God--
This is what
the homosexuals can do.
They don't really care
about how much they destroy.
WE SHOULD NOT LET 2%
OF THE POPULATION
DETERMINE-- TO CHANGE
THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE
THAT HAS BEEN SUPPORTED
BY EVERY SINGLE CULTURE
AND EVERY SINGLE RELIGION
FOR 5,000 YEARS.
RIGHT NOW THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGH ARE IN AN UNHOLY
ALLIANCE POLITICALLY.
AND I THINK THEIR
UNHOLY ALLIANCE
HAS BEEN
LARGELY FOCUSED
ON THIS NOTION
OF BEING HOMOPHOBIC.
In America the only
marriage to be recognized
is the marriage between
a man and a woman!
I SAW IT COMING
IN THE FALL OF '03
WITH THE MASSACHUSETTS
COURT RULING
WITH A CLOSE ELECTION.
I SAW IT COMING.
I REMEMBER THE DAY
THAT PRESIDENT BUSH GOT UP
AND HELD THE NEWS CONFERENCE
ANNOUNCING HIS SUPPOR FOR THE AMENDMENT.
Marriage cannot be severed
from its cultural, religious
and natural roots.
SEEING THE PRESIDEN ANNOUNCING
THAT ONE OF HIS
TOP PRIORITIES IN CONGRESS
WAS TO PREVENT ME
AND MY PARTNER
FROM HAVING A LEGITIMATE
RELATIONSHIP,
THAT WAS
A POWERFUL THING.
IT'S A VERY
SURREAL EXPERIENCE
TO WATCH THE STATE
OF THE UNION ADDRESS
AND HAVE THE PRESIDEN OF THE UNITED STATES
ATTACK YOU AND DEMONIZE
YOU IN THAT SPEECH
THAT'S BEING WATCHED
BY THE ENTIRE WORLD.
IT JUST MADE YOU SICK.
IT REALLY IN MANY WAYS
WAS A GUT CHECK FOR ME.
I THINK IT WAS FOR A LO OF OTHER GAY REPUBLICANS TOO.
I WAS JUST FURIOUS.
I FELT BETRAYED.
I FELT ANGRY.
I GUESS IF I BELIEVED
THAT IT WAS A SINCERE
PERSONAL CONVICTION,
I MIGHT HAVE FEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT IT.
BUT TO JUST USE THA TO GET MORE VOTES...
Fordham:
THIS WAS JUS RAW POLITICS.
THE PRESIDENT DIDN' NEED TO DO THIS TO
GET RE-ELECTED.
I THINK THE FEDERAL
MARRIAGE AMENDMEN WAS THE MOST VIOLENT ATTACK
UPON GAY PEOPLE AND THEIR RIGHTS
IN THIS COUNTRY, EXPLICITLY,
THAT'S EVER HAPPENED.
Marilyn Musgrave:
I cannot think of a better good
that this body
may pursue
than to promote
and defend the idea
that every child deserves both
a father and a mother.
EVERY ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINS GAY OR LESBIAN, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER PEOPLE
USUALLY STARTS WITH
SOME FORM OF VERY VISIBLE
AND VERY LOUD DEFAMATION.
Anywhere in the world today,
you can wake somebody up
in the middle of the night,
you pick 'em,
and say, "Excuse me.
Wake up just a second.
What is a marriage?"
And they'll say, "A union
between a man and a woman."
SO YOU HAVE THESE ANTI-GAY
LEADERS THAT ARE SPEWING
ALL THIS HATRED
ABOUT GAY
AND LESBIAN PEOPLE.
AND PEOPLE WHO AREN' REALLY ENGAGED
AND DON'T REALLY
KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON
AND DON'T FOLLOW IT THAT MUCH
HAVE A GENERAL
SAME VIEWPOINT AS THEM
AND THEY JUST SOR OF COPY AND THEY MIRROR IT.
AND THAT'S HOW IT TRANSFORMS.
Reporter:
A charred truck, threats,
"I'll be back,"
and in bigger writing
for everyone to see:
"Gay must go."
Reporter #2:
22-year-old James Nichola
who goes by "Janine"
says he was the victim
of a hate crime.
He says the attackers
the whole time were yelling,
"We want you out
of our neighborhood!"
Reporter #3:
San Jose, California:
Bill Kiley suffered
repeated harassment
from a young neighbor.
Reporter #4:
This is video of Neve
in the hospital
just a few days after
he was brutally attacked.
He spent several days
in Strong Hospital
with a fractured skull,
nose, upper jaw and eye socket.
Reporter #5:
On May 29, the 18-year-old
victim's body
is discovered in the woods
behind his family's
Woodlawn home.
Police say Steven Parrish
had joined a Bloods gang
and was killed by two
members of his own group.
Court documents say
it's because they thought
he was gay.
That was four days
before his graduation from
Randallstown High School.
Reporter #6:
Students marched
in Oxnard, California,
in memory of
Lawrence "Larry" King,
a 15-year-old student
police say was gunned down
by a classmate
because he was openly gay.
14-year-old Brandon McInerney
allegedly shot King
in the head in the school's
computer lab.
- ( weeping )
- It's over.
King was pronounced brain-dead
at a local hospital.
His body was kept alive
so his organs could
be donated.
Today I call upon
the Congress to promptly pass
and to send to the states
for ratification
an amendment
to our Constitution
defining and protecting
marriage as the union
of a man and woman
as husband and wife.
DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH
THE 2004 STRATEGY
AROUND ANTI-GAY ELEMENTS
OF THE BUSH CAMPAIGN,
YOU WILL FIND A CADRE
OF GAY PEOPLE.
THE 2004 ELECTION
WAS A VERY ANTI-GAY--
YOU KNOW, IT WAS A PARTY.
AND KEN MEHLMAN
WAS LIKE THE M.C.
Lifestyle issues.
Gay marriage.
Is that an issue
in this campaign?
I think it's an issue
in many races.
Byrne:
IT WAS HARD BECAUSE THERE
WASN'T THE KIND OF EVIDENCE
WITH KEN MEHLMAN THA THERE WAS WITH OTHER PEOPLE,
BUT IT WAS RELATIVELY KNOWN,
AND NOBODY WOULD EVEN ASK.
A lot of the chiefs
of staff,
the people who really run
the underpinnings
of the Republican party
are gay.
I don't want to mention names,
but I will Friday night.
You will Friday night?
Well, there's a couple
of big people who I think
everyone in Washington knows
- who run the--
- You will name them?
Well, I wouldn't be
the first.
I'd get sued
if I was the first.
Ken Mehlman,
there's one I think
people have talked about.
I don't think
he's denied it when
people have suggested it.
- He doesn't say--
- I'm walking around
in a fog.
- Come on.
- Ken Mehlman?
I never heard that.
- But the question is--
- Maybe you don't go to
the same bathhouse I do.
I'd get sued if I was
the first.
Maybe you don't go to
the same bathhouse I do.
Why would
someone who is gay
take public
anti-gay positions?
Why would you do that?
Because, Larry,
hating yourself is
the greatest love of all.
KEN MEHLMAN WAS THE GUY
THAT RAN THE CAMPAIGN
THAT WAS SENDING OU THESE FLIERS,
THAT WAS BAITING PEOPLE,
THAT WAS--
PARTICULARLY IN OHIO AND ALL
THESE BATTLEGROUND STATES
WHERE IT WAS ALL ABOU "LET'S GET PEOPLE
TO VOTE FOR BUSH
BY THIS GAY THING"
LED BY THE GAY GUY!
AND FUNDED
BY THE GAY GUY!
AND POLITICALLY DIRECTED
BY THE GAY GUY!
YOU KNOW?
AND I THINK PEOPLE
DESERVE TO KNOW THAT.
Sheridan:
I THINK MARY CHENEY'S
OUTING WAS EFFECTIVE.
Rosen:
OH, I'M APPALLED
BY THE CHENEYS.
I FELT EXTREMELY
DISHEARTENED...
THAT THEY WERE AS SUPPORTIVE
OF THE ANTI-GAY POLICIES
AS THEY WERE.
WE ALWAYS THOUGH WE HAD SOME PROTECTION
BECAUSE OF THE VICE
PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER.
If your father was
not the vice president,
and you were a gay woman
in a gay relationship
in the United States
in 2004, 2000,
- would you have
voted for this ticket?
- Yes, I would have.
Catania:
IF SHE WERE STRIPPED
OF HER FATHER'S TITLE,
SHE WOULD BE SUBJECTED
TO THE SAME GRATUITOUS
DISCRIMINATION
THAT AFFECTS SO MANY
GAYS AND LESBIANS
IN THIS COUNTRY.
SHE IS PROTECTED
BY HER POSITION
AND HER MONEY.
- And you have a partner.
- I do.
"Gay couples cannot file
jointly for federal taxes."
Is that true?
- That is true.
- And your feelings
about that?
I think it's wrong.
I think they should
be able to.
Did you talk to your
father about this?
We have many conversations
about different issues.
Maybe that's
the point.
I'm wondering
if people would rather
you had talked about it
during the campaign
as opposed to after
the campaign and putting
it in the book.
Would it have
been more effective
to talk about it then?
- ( audience applauding )
- I honestly don't think
it would have been.
I'M COMPLETELY
UNIMPRESSED
THAT SHE DOESN'T AGREE
WITH PRESIDENT BUSH
OR HER FATHER DICK CHENEY,
WHEN IN FACT SHE WORKED,
SHE WAS A PAID OPERATIVE
TO GET THEM ELECTED
AND THEN RE-ELECTED.
MARY CHENEY'S JOB
BEFORE HER FATHER RAN
FOR PRESIDEN WAS TO BE THE GAY AND LESBIAN
LIAISON FOR COORS BEER.
Birch:
SHE MADE HER LIVING
FIGURING OU HOW TO DISSEC THE GAY COMMUNITY
INTO NICHE MARKETS
AND SELL THEM COORS BEER.
BUT SHE WASN' INQUISITIVE ENOUGH
AND DIDN'T CARE ENOUGH
TO DISSEC THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
AND THE ELITE
OF THAT PARTY
TO FIGURE OUT HOW
TO GET BASIC RIGHTS PASSED.
THERE IS PROBABLY NO A BETTER EXAMPLE
OF SOMEONE WHO IS
SO STEEPED
IN HYPOCRISY.
SHE COULD HAVE MADE
A HUGE DIFFERENCE
AND DID NOT.
Gurley:
I GOT A CALL FROM
A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE
WHO TOLD ME THERE WAS
A GAY ACTIVIS WHO WAS GOING
TO START A BLOG
AND WAS GONNA STAR OUTING REPUBLICANS.
DURING THIS TIME, I WAS
THE NATIONAL FIELD DIRECTOR
OF THE REPUBLICAN
NATIONAL COMMITTEE.
ONE OF THE BIG
RESPONSIBILITIES THAT I HAD
WAS HELPING TO OVERSEE
A DIRECT-MAIL PROGRAM.
I WAS THE FIRST ONE
TO GET A PAMPHLE FROM AN ARKANSAS
READER OF MY BLOG
THAT SAID THE DEMOCRATS
WERE GONNA BAN THEIR BIBLE
AND TURN STATES INTO
BASTIONS OF HOMOSEXUALITY.
AND THEY WERE SENDING
THIS TO CHURCH PEW ROSTERS
AROUND THE COUNTRY.
Rogers:
IT WAS SENT BY THE REPUBLICAN
NATIONAL COMMITTEE
AND THEY DIDN' EVEN TRY TO HIDE IT!
DAN GURLEY WHO HAD
ULTIMATE AUTHORITY
OVER THESE UNBELIEVABLE FLIERS,
HE HAD A PROFILE ON GAY.COM
THAT WAS STASHED FULL
OF A BUNCH OF HIS PICTURES.
AND HE WAS SEEKING
MULTIPLE PARTNERS FOR SEX.
I GOT A CALL FROM HIM
AT HOME ONE SUNDAY NIGH SAYING, "YOU'RE THE ONE.
YOU'RE GONNA BE NEXT."
HE POINTEDLY ASKED ME
IF I WAS A GAY MAN.
AND I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS.
UH, HE...
IMMEDIATELY
THEN STARTED TO...
TO QUESTION ME ABOU DID I NOT HAVE A CONSCIENCE?
DID I NOT FEEL
SOME SORT OF REMORSE
OR REGRET FOR WORKING
FOR A POLITICAL PARTY,
WORKING TO HELP ELEC A PRESIDEN THAT DID NOT SUPPOR EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAY AMERICANS?
I BASICALLY JUST SAID,
YOU KNOW,
"YOU DO WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE
YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO DO."
I WAS IN LINE FOR
A PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT,
IN ALL LIKELIHOOD
IN SOME POLICY ROLE SOMEWHERE.
BUT ONCE ROGERS
DID THIS POSTING ABOUT ME
THAT OPPORTUNITY
EVAPORATED.
Rogers:
RECENTLY I GET AN EMAIL--
"DAN GURLEY'S
ON THE BOARD
OF NORTH CAROLINA EQUALITY."
I'M LIKE, "WHAT?"
I WENT TO THE WEBSITE,
I LOOKED IT ABOUT,
AND I'M LIKE,
"THIS IS HOT.
THIS IS WHY
I STARTED BLOGACTIVE."
HE'S AN OUT GAY MAN
AND HE'S PROUD
AND HE'S ON THE BOARD
OF A STATEWIDE NATIONAL
GAY GROUP.
THIS MAN IS USING HIS SKILL
TO SECURE GAY RIGHTS.
WHAT COULD BE BETTER
AND WHAT BETTER EFFEC COULD I HAVE
AS AN INDIVIDUAL?
Kolbe:
WHEN YOU COME OUT,
I GUARANTEE YOU
THE EXPERIENCE WILL BE
BETTER THAN YOU EVER
DREAMED IT WOULD BE.
IN A SENSE I CAME OUT,
I GUESS YOU MIGHT SAY,
IN STAGES.
I LEFT A MARRIAGE
BACK IN 1991
AND THAT WAS
A BIG STEP FOR ME.
I RECOGNIZED MYSELF
AND HER--
WHAT THE FEELINGS
THAT I HAD.
JULY OF '96 WAS
WHEN WE HAD A VOTE
ON WHAT WAS CALLED D.O.M.A.,
THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT.
AND I VOTED FOR THAT.
AT THAT TIME "THE ADVOCATE"
MAGAZINE DECIDED THEY WOULD
WRITE AN ARTICLE.
AND APPROACHED ME ABOUT I AND TOLD ME THEY WERE
GOING TO DO SO
AND NAME ME
AS ONE WHO WAS GAY.
AND I BASICALLY JUST SAID,
WELL, I THOUGHT THAT WAS WRONG
FOR THEM TO DO THAT.
I SAID, "I'LL BEA YOU TO THE PUNCH HERE."
AND I JUST DID IT MYSELF.
IT WAS PROBABLY
THE MOST LIFTING EXPERIENCE
I'VE EVER HAD.
I HAD THIS UNBELIEVABLE,
INDESCRIBABLE
SENSE OF PEACE AND CALM
COME OVER ME.
AND I COULD LITERALLY
LITERALLY FEEL
40 YEARS JUST LIFTING
OFF OF MY SHOULDER.
McGreevey:
I'LL NEVER FORGET WHEN I DID
MY ANNOUNCEMENT SPEECH.
MY MOTHER HAD
FOUND SOME PRAYER CARDS
FROM MY GRANDMOTHER,
FOR WHOM
I WAS VERY CLOSE TO.
AND I REMEMBER GOING
INTO THE BATHROOM
JUST OUTSIDE
THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.
AND, UM...
PRAYING TO MY GRANDMOTHER.
AND SAYING TO HER...
"AT LONG LAST...
THIS IS WHO GOD MADE ME
AND THIS IS A GOOD THING."
Kolbe:
I ALWAYS REMEMBER
JOHN McCAIN.
WHEN I STARTED TO SAY,
"JOHN, THERE'S SOMETHING
I REALLY WANT TO TALK TO YOU
ABOUT AND TELL YOU ABOUT."
HE JUST PUT UP
HIS HAND AND SAID,
"NEVER MIND, JIM. I KNOW.
IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE.
YOU'RE A GOOD LEGISLATOR.
YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN
AND YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING
TO BE MY FRIEND."
AND I REMEMBER WALKING AWAY
FROM THAT CONVERSATION THINKING,
"GOSH, THAT WAS PRETTY EASY.
THAT WASN'T VERY TOUGH
TO DO THAT."
AND SO EACH ONE WAS
KIND OF LIKE THAT.
AND IT GOT SO I JUST COULDN' WAIT TO PICK UP THE PHONE
TO MAKE THE NEXT CALL.
Tafel:
I THINK IN THE CASE
OF A MEMBER OF CONGRESS,
THEY DO CHANGE
THEIR VOTING RECORD.
BECAUSE ONCE
YOU'RE OUT OF THE CLOSET,
YOUR DELUSIONAL THINKING
FALLS BY THE WAYSIDE.
Man:
The gentleman is recognized
for three minutes.
Mr. Speaker, we have not used
the amending process
to limit the rights of citizens.
From the First Amendment
to the 14th,
the original framers
in the Congress that followed
have sought to expand,
to protect the rights
of citizens.
This would be a unique amendment
in that it takes away rights
from one group
while specifically conferring
it upon another.
Try to find another provision
in the Constitution
that does this.
You will look in vain.
Mr. Speaker, this Congress
and those after it should
be about protecting
and expanding freedoms.
This proposed amendment
to our Constitution is
about discrimination.
It is about fear.
It is unnecessary,
it is unwarranted and it
should be soundly defeated.
Female announcer:
Amendment 2 does
only one thing:
defining marriage as a union
of a man and a woman.
That's it.
When you vote,
say yes to pass life
to the next generation.
Vote yes to keep marriage
one man, one woman.
That's it.
No one loses benefits.
Please vote yes
on Amendment 2.
A big political announcement
out of Florida tonight.
Republican presidential
candidate John McCain
has picked up
a major endorsement.
I don't think anybody would do
better than the man who stands
next to me: Senator John McCain.
Brzezinski: Governor Crist,
just real quickly, are they
chatting with you
about a possible
V.P. slot for you?
Come on, be shameless.
- Tell us.
- We're chatting about
working hard for Florida.
Reporter:
Crist has obviously coveted
the vice-presidential spot
- on the Republican ticket.
- Chris Matthews: "Try getting
married,"
is that what
we're hearing this week?
Is this part of the excitement
and the build-up
to running for V.P.?
What's going on here?
Reporter #3:
If your wife can't help you
in a campaign, who can?
The state's most eligible
bachelor is officially
off the market
this Fourth of July.
Governor Charlie Crist
is engaged.
He popped the question
yesterday to his girlfriend
of nine months.
Her name is Carole Rome.
Reporter:
Let me start by asking you
what made you decide
to pop the question when
you did and, you know?
Well, I mean, I think you
pop the question like that
when you're in love
and I am.
And so that's why I did it.
And thank God she said yes.
We couldn't be happier.
I TELL THEM TO NEVER LIE,
THAT IF THEY GET THE QUESTION
THEY SHOULD BE PREPARED
TO ANSWER THE QUESTION HONESTLY
AND DO NOTHING BUT ANSWER
THE QUESTION HONESTLY.
Reporter #2:
What's your reaction over
some people's preoccupation,
and I'm not talking this time
about marriage,
with your sexuality?
Both the rumors of-- you know,
the various rumors
that have been around?
Sure. Well, you know,
when you're in the public eye,
being Governor of Florida,
that's inevitable.
And, you know, I just--
I don't really focus on it.
I'm just, uh, you know,
damn glad to-- I found
such a wonderful lady.
THE SAD THING ABOUT THE CLOSE IS IT DOES, IN PART,
GIVE YOU SKILLS THAT YOU CAN
APPLY AS A POLITICIAN,
BECAUSE SO MUCH OF POLITICS
TODAY IS POSITIONING
AND SPINNING AND BEING ABLE
TO PIROUETTE ON AN ISSUE.
Reporter #2:
One aspect is that
you were gay.
The other one is that you
were a serial philandering
heterosexual.
Does that bother you?
Uh, well, lack of truth
always would be disturbing
to somebody.
But I'm just pleased
that I found happiness.
Patrick Guerriero:
I'VE WATCHED DECENT PEOPLE
STRUGGLE WITH COMING OU AND BEING UNABLE TO DO SO.
THE CLOSET, PARTICULARLY
IN THE MIDST OF A CULTURAL WAR,
SUFFOCATES THE INTEGRITY
OF DECENT PEOPLE.
Announcer:
"For this reason, a man will
leave his father and mother
and be united with his wife
and they will
become one flesh."
For God's design.
Woman:
On November 4th,
vote yes on Amendment 2.
With laws already on the books
to ban same-sex marriage
in Florida,
voters now added that ban
to the State Constitution.
Giuliano:
OH, WITHOUT A DOUBT.
WITHOUT A DOUBT THE GOVERNOR
OF FLORIDA COULD HAVE CHANGED
THE OUTCOME OF THAT ELECTION
HAD HE NOT TILTED TO
THE RIGHT AND DECIDED TO TAKE
THE POSITION THAT HE DID.
YEAH, WITHOUT A DOUBT.
McGreevey:
THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED
WITH GOOD INTENTIONS.
BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU'RE
DOING THE RIGHT THING.
AND DAMN IT,
YOU KNOW WHA THE RIGHT VALUE IS?
THE RIGHT VALUE IS TRUTHFULNESS.
THE RIGHT VALUE
IS HONESTY.
THE RIGHT VALUE ISN'T LIVING
SOMEBODY ELSE'S TRUTH.
IT'S LIVING YOUR TRUTH.
Kramer:
WE DON'T HAVE RIGHTS.
GAY PEOPLE
DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS.
DON'T TELL ME THAT WE DO.
THAT'S WHY
IT'S SO IMPORTAN THAT WE KNOW ABOUT THESE
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
IN PEOPLE'S LIVES.
IT AFFECTS GOVERNMENT.
IT AFFECTS EVERYTHING.
Guerriero:
THIS WHOLE ISSUE REALLY DOES
IMPACT THE PUBLIC-POLICY ARENA.
IT AFFECTS SOME OF OUR NATION'S
MOST SIGNIFICAN AND POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS
AND IT'S WHY
MY HOPE IS THA THIS NEXT GENERATION
OF YOUNG AMERICAN LEADERS
DOESN'T HAVE TO BE SUFFOCATED
IN THE MIDST OF A CULTURAL WAR
THAT HOPEFULLY HAS ENDED
BY THE TIME THEY REACH
WASHINGTON, D.C.
I REALLY DO BELIEVE,
AND I'VE ALWAYS FELT THIS,
THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
A GAY PERSON CAN DO
WITH RESPECT TO
THE SOCIAL-JUSTICE ISSUES
AROUND HOMOSEXUALITY
IS SIMPLY TO BE OUT.
AND IT STAGGERS ME TODAY
THAT SO MANY ARE NOT.
IF EVERY GAY PERSON WERE
TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET,
THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMEN WOULD BE OVER.
THAT'S THE SLEEPING GIAN OF THE MOVEMENT--
IS ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
IN THE CLOSET COMING OU EN MASSE
AND IT WOULD BE DONE.
Harvey Milk:
If every gay person
in this state
came out--
came out to their family,
their friends,
we would win.
But that means that every
gay person must come out
to their families
so their family doesn't
vote against them,
to their friends, if they
are indeed their friends,
to their relatives,
to the people where
they work,
and to their
next-door neighbors.
Nobody else.
If that happened across
the state, we'd win.
( instrumental music playing )