CBS journalist Itay Hod ignited a bit of a fire storm when he more or less outed Republican Congressman Aaron Schock in a lengthy Facebook post over the weekend. The usual suspects in the gay blogosphere have whined that outing closeted anti-gay politicians is improper and defended Schock's right to "come out in his own time." Meanwhile, of course, Schock has been busy voting against the civil rights of other gays and aiding and abetting anti-gay groups. I'm sorry, but what Schock has been doing is what ids unacceptable and improper. Outing him was not only proper but a good thing. Every single closeted elected official who supports an anti-gay legislative agenda while enjoying gay sex in secret needs to be outed. The media needs to stop giving cover to hypocrites like Schock. A column at Huffington Post makes the argument as to why "outing" is acceptable. Here are highlights:
Over the weekend, CBS journalist Itay Hod decided he'd had enough of closeted politicians. In a long Facebook post, Hod ranted that the media has been muzzled from outing anyone for fear of repercussions from gay-rights organizations like GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign. He waxed on about an "Illinois congressman" with a virulently anti-gay voting history and claimed this congressman was caught in the shower with his male partner by a fellow journalist.
In case we weren't sure who Hod was discussing, he linked to an article about Rep. Aaron Schock's gayest Instagram photos.
The case of closeted Republican gays has long been a source of consternation among the LGBT community. General consensus still relies on the idea that "outing" is a morally problematic thing to do because, in the past, publicly declaring someone's sexual orientation could put them at risk for violence and harassment.
In the situation of someone like Aaron Schock, this consideration is rendered inconsequential. It wouldn't matter if outing Schock put him at risk of physical violence because he is a man who has made a career out of harming minority individuals. All of his votes are now very easily accessible by category thanks to Project Vote Smart.
Schock voted against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act on April 29, 2009. This act was to ammend federal hate crime laws to include LGBT individuals. So if someone assaulted Schock for allegedly showering with another man in his hotel, he believes that assault shouldn't be counted as a "hate crime" in the way being assaulted for skin color should.
He then voted against the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 2010. The repeal has been so widely accepted by now, many forget that it was only a short time ago that LGBT individuals could lose their jobs in the military if it became known that they so much as harbored fond feelings for the same gender.
Despite his efforts to prevent the Employment Descrimination Law Amendments from passing, the bill passed on January 9, 2009. As recently as July 19, 2012, Schock helped pass an amendment to prevent funding to actions that would controvene the Defense of Marriage Act, which was ultimately struck down by the conservative-leaning United States Supreme Court.
Aaron Schock is not merely someone disaligned with the LGBT community, he is an active opponent earning a 0 percent approval rating from the HRC.
Outing folks like Representative Aaron Schock isn't just not-wrong. It's an ethical responsibility of journalists to expose blatant hypocrisy from our politicians. Itay Hod claims that his friend's network, which he chooses not to name, ran a video of Aaron Schock talking about his heterosexuality after already being informed that he was lying.
Kudos to Hod for being brave enough to violate one of journalism's most sacred unwritten rules: One must lean toward equality in coverage, but never to the point of offending the personal sensibilities of the rich and powerful by exposing their hypocrisy on the issue.
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