Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Is Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk Another Ed Schrock?

It seems that outwardly closeted, self-loathing Republicans just do not grasp the fact that if they keep voting anti-gay that sooner or later someone in gay community is going to reach such a level of anger and disgust that they will turn to the media and/or activists and "out" the politician equivalent of George Rekers. I know this for a fact - I'm the one that call Mike Rogers about former Congressman Ed Schrock who consistently voted against the interests of LGBT Americans even as he was cruising for gsy sex trysts. It seems that Illinois Congressman Make Kirk learned NOTHING from the Schrock debacle. Kirk is now the newest target of Mike Rogers - all set in motion by those who were simply fed up with Kirk's hypocrisy and disingenuousness.
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While some in the gay community argue that no one should out someone else, in cases like Schrock and Kirk I beg to differ. They have deliberately made the decision to vote in ways that harm others in the LGBT community and, therefore, deserve to be exposed for liars and hypocrites. Also, from working with Mike Rogers on the Ed Schrock story, I can personally vouch that he does NOT go off half cocked. If he says he has the goods on someone, believe me, he does. Check out the posts at BlogActive.com where Mike Rogers goes after Kirk. Even better, here are highlights from Huffington Post which will hopefully take the story national:
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Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk has had a dramatic few days, and now a popular gay blogger known for outing politicians claims to have sources confirming that Kirk is a closeted gay man.
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Before the February Illinois primary, Kirk, a Republican vying for President Obama's former senate seat, faced attacks from birther Andy Martin claiming that Kirk was gay. Kirk denied the claims, but now faces an attempted outing from the other side--the gay community.
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Activist blogger Mike Rogers tends to target politicians with antigay voting records, and "outed" Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Mark Foley. He was also featured in the film "Outrage" where he discussed closeted politicians who work against the gay community. In a Tuesday post on Rogers' BlogActive, he explained why he decided to bring up Kirk's sexuality now:
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Until now, Mark Kirk elected not to play the typical Washington game. Instead of supporting his party's dismal record on gay rights, Kirk received Human Rights Campaign ratings of 67% in 2002, 88% in 2004, 76% in 2006 and 85% in 2008. That's more impressive than a lot of Democrats. I even let Kirk slide by when he didn't co-sponsor earlier legislation relating to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. My thoughts then were that he wasn't THAT bad on gay stuff and that the bill was going nowhere anyway.
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Though the HRC has supported Kirk in the past, the group pledged their support to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias last week after Kirk voted against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal.
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Rogers cited several sources who contacted him following Kirk's DADT vote. Two men, whose names were not given, claimed to have had sexual relations with Kirk while he was in college.
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Frank Sennett, editor-in-chief of Time Out Chicago, interviewed Rogers about his Larry Craig outing in 2007, where the blogger explained who he chooses to out and when:

"Rogers acknowledged gay legislators don't have to support gay marriage. However, he added, 'You have to be honest with the American people that you're voting against a group you're a part of. If politicians want to say they're straight and then have sex in bathrooms [referring to Larry Craig] after voting against gay rights, that doesn't work.'
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The Kirk campaign has yet to respond to Rogers' claims
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Kudos, Mike. Let's hope the closeted members of the GOP will get the message and stop voting against normal, out gays.

1 comment:

Jim Stone said...

Maybe I am being naive but I think in 2010 people really don't care?? I think people would appreciate honesty. In other words, if you are being truthful about your sexuality then you will be truthful about other issues. I have been out for 20 years so I just don't get this silliness. So come on guys-come out of the friggin closet and stop voting against MY rights just to prove you are supposedly straight!!!