Watching Kirby Dick’s new documentary, Outrage, was
enough to convince me I’ve been hiding a secret, one that can only harm
American society. More on this, later….
Dick has a history of focusing on solid stories and turning them
into compelling documentaries—I enjoyed his 2006 exposé of
Hollywood’s broken ratings system, This Film Is Not Yet Rated,
but it didn’t tug at my activist conscience quite so strongly as his
latest effort. Outrage opens with audio of former Idaho Senator
Larry Craig denying soliciting sex from a cop in a bathroom stall in
2007. Then David Phillips tells us he fucked Craig in the early ’80s,
after which Craig reportedly told him, “Just remember, I can buy and
sell your ass 1,000 times.”
While anyone’s sexuality ordinarily wouldn’t be any of our beeswax,
Outrage makes the point that it sure as hell should be when that
person votes against giving medication to AIDS patients: Craig has
repeatedly voted against HIV assistance (not to mention gays in the
military, gay marriage, employment discrimination law…). And he’s not
alone among closeted Republican lawmakers voting for what I believe is
essentially gay genocide.
Outrage also introduces us to Florida’s “bachelor governor”
(*cough*), Charlie Crist, who got married last year when John
McCain hinted he might get a vice presidential nomination. And we’re
shown a censored clip of Larry King’s show, where Bill Maher tries to
out Republican fixer Ken Mehlman—the architect of the party’s
anti-gay marriage efforts—but is prevented from doing so by CNN’s
editors. Yep: There’s a media conspiracy to go along with this
bullshit, it seems.
At least James McGreevey—the former Democratic governor of New
Jersey—gives me hope: He resigned, admitting to being gay in
2004, and in Outrage, he claims that Capitol Hill is the gayest,
most closeted place in America. Since I’m a firm believer in being the
change you want to see in the world, I’ll admit it: I’m a big gay
senator! There. See, boys? It’s not so hard after all.
Outing is immoral, plain and simple. If you don’t like Republican anti-gay politicians, work for their opponents. If the Obama campaign taught us anything, it’s that mudslinging and character assassination may have worked for Baby Boomers like Bush and the Clintons, but the post-boomers actually want to fix things.
A politician has the right to vote anyway he or she wants, and you have the right to work against them. If they want to stay closeted, why is it your business? When will gay rights activists learn that only by taking the high road will they win over the general public to their causes? Martin Luther King didn’t win over white America by calling out Lyndon Johnson on his own squelched racism — he realized that Johnson had a higher self he wanted to believe in, and appealed to it.
Not to mention, karma’s a bitch, and everyone who indulges in outing will deserve whatever the universe deals them in payback.