Foley's sexual orientation a not-so-secret secret

[DoYouEverWonder]

October 04, 2006

Mark Foley, a skillful, tireless politician who lived so much of his life in public, survived politically by finessing his precarious private life as a gay man.

<snip>

But two years later, Foley voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, a piece of federal legislation reviled by the gay community.

Thorne-Begland remembers having an angry conversation with Foley.

"I remember telling him, 'As a fellow gay man, I can't see you justifying voting for something so self-loathing,' and he said he couldn't compare whatever relationships he's had to the 40 years his mother and father had."

Thorne-Begland, though, chalked Foley's vote up to his political survival instincts.

"I think Mark was more smitten about power than about being honest with himself," Thorne-Begland said.

<snip>

Tuesday night, Foley was the topic of conversation for the patrons at H.G. Roosters, a gay bar in West Palm Beach.

But Roth's announcement that Foley is gay wasn't news here. No, at Roosters, you could learn the name of Foley's current male companion in five minutes.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/04/m1a_secret_life_1004.html



May 23, 2003

With rumors spreading about U.S. Rep. Mark Foley's sexual orientation, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate summoned reporters Thursday to address the issue.

Then Foley said he would not discuss it.

"I'm declaring today that I have a right to privacy, like anyone else in this country," Foley said in a 30-minute conference call. "The fact that I'm not married has led many people to speculate, but I'm not going to be dragged into the gutter by these rumormongers."

Foley, a five-term congressman from West Palm Beach, organized the unusual conference call after an alternative newspaper in Broward County reported this month that it believed Foley was gay.

That story spread to other gay-oriented publications, and Foley said he wanted to be "proactive" before a general circulation newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, published an article on the issue.

Foley is running for the Senate seat held by Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham. Unlike some other prospective candidates, he says he will run for the Senate even if Graham drops his presidential bid and seeks re-election. He said his private life has no bearing on his candidacy.

Foley blamed Democratic activists for spreading the rumor to try to derail his campaign and rounded up prominent Republicans to support him.

"Liberal Democratic activists have reached new levels of hypocrisy," U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said in a statement. "The underhanded rumormongering campaign they've launched against Mark Foley is despicable."

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/339753541.html?dids=339753541:339753541&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+23%2C+2003&author=ADAM+C.+SMITH&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=6.B&desc=Sexual+orientation+a+private+matter%2C+U.S.+Rep.+Foley+says


I suppose DEMS shouldn't hold their breathe waiting for an apology.

[TomInTib]

1. Here we go, boys and girls...

This ride is getting by the hour.

k&r

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ninkasi]

3. I firmly support equal rights for all

and their sexual orientation is not a consideration. Pedophilia, however, is in a completely different category. Pedophiles can prey on either sex. What the sexual preferences of the predator's is, has no bearing on what I feel about the abusers of trust. The right-wing will try very hard to link the two, but it is not a valid conclusion, as far as I'm concerned.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. The issue here is that Foley is a liar

even when there was no need to lie. Not only did he lie, but when the truth was revealed he accused 'liberal activist DEMS' of lying about him.

Last year when it came to light that Foley was sending inappropriate email to Congressional pages, he lied again.

Obviously, Foley lies about a lot of things, so why should anyone believe anything he says now?

[gratuitous]

10. And that Foley's a hypocrite

Like Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the protagonists in The Great Gatsby, Foley could be as careless as he liked with other people's lives, secure in the knowledge that he could always retreat into his own wealth and power if the going got too rough. No one could question Foley's relationships or orientation, but he could meddle in other people's relationships, denying them the rights and privileges of our society while still requiring them to pay taxes and meet their other obligations and responsibilities. Mark Foley didn't need the protections and privileges afforded by same sex marriage because he was wealthy enough and powerful enough to buy them back. Too bad for the rest of you second class citizens.

[arewenotdemo]

11. excellent point

[Cha]

17. Bonzai! mark foley is the worst kind

of Pervert..a Hypocritical Pervert.

[soothsayer]

5. Yeah, but hardly pedophilia with 17 year olds (didn't he just date

them after they were pages, meaning post-16?).

[AllyCat]

21. Depends on the state I suppose. However,...

the point is that he was in a position of power and has abused that power in this instance. He should have known that this activity constituted pedophilia in some states and not even gone there, straight or gay.

The fact that the Repukes have tried to paint him as "coming out of the closet" as a gay man and is in ETOH rehab hardly addresses the real issue.

[hedgehog]

6. I think John Stewart said it the best Monday night

Something to the effect that Republicans confuse Foley's behavior with teenage boys with his being gay and then wonder why they are accused of gay bashing. As for the comments that's it's not really pedophilia when a 17 year old is involved, how would you judge a 52 year old man hitting on a 17 year old girl? I agree, there is a gray area when a 22 year old and a 17 year old get together (regardless of the gender match-up) but the difference in age and power in this case clearly makes Foley's actions wrong.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Definitely an abuse of power issue here too

Foley used his power to take advantage of the situation. I'm sure that a lot of these impressionable, young pages though if they were nice to him, it would help their careers.

[LiberalFighter]

12. In Florida a 16 or 17 year old is off-limits to anyone 24 or older

[Cha]

18. Yes, Jon Stewart did say

it well. Wonder what the greedy log cabiners think of this one?

[Javaman]

8. I wonder if he'll become a democrat now?

:shrug:

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Here's a pic of the lucky fellow

Layne Nisenbaum

[Pachamama]

13. My Mom who is a Democrat & my Stepfather who is a Republican in Foley's

District in Florida, say that everybody knew that Foley was gay....that wasn't any newsflash by any sense of measure.

"Everyone knew"...my mom said to me yesterday....and my stepfather, a retired Colonel in the military said that "he always assumed that Foley was gay." Their position was that it wasn't their business. Mom didn't vote for Foley, Stepdad did.

But chasing pages and sending explicit sexual messages to adolescents? Leaders in the GOP knowing and covering it up for politics, instead of protecting kids? That, they said is shocking and disgusting....

So you see folks, my Mother and Stepfather, a Democrat and Republican, aren't shocked or surprised (or care for that matter) that Foley was gay, they as parents, as good and decent Americans, as good "christians", are horrified by Foley's actions and also disgusted that the GOP leadership knew and didn't stop it.

They make an excellent focus group sample and snap shot of how Americans are feeling right now. And the Alcoholism claim by Foley?

They say "spare me"...they don't buy it.

[marshall]

14. It's always boggled my mind

How can they hold the beliefs they do, and then elect people to office like Foley and Lindsay Graham? Why isn't thee more outcry when Bush selects unmarried women "of a certain age" like Condoleezza Rice or Harriet Myers? Why aren't the Cheneys forced to ostracize their daughter? Can somebody explain it?

[fishnfla]

15. Check out Delay's quotes in the 2nd link

thats the same message they are trying to sell now! too bad the info came from inside the GOP

speaking of which, whne this guy Fordam says he told the highest level of the House leadership, think he meant Delay? The bugman knew foley was after pages?

foley was doling out scads of WPB cash to the GOP

[Cha]

16. Turns out mark foley dragged himself

into the gutter and not because he's "Gay"..because he's a fucking Pervert.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. There are two issues here

1) Foley's consistent votes against the GLBT community despite the fact that he was a closeted gay. In this context, his sexuality was germane and pertinent to the topic. How can someone sell out people that he should - in theory - have some empathy for?

2) He has a pattern of criminal harassment of teens. This is the public's business, but is a different topic from the one in the OP.

His orientation AND his teen-o-philia are both legitimate topics of debate - for different reasons.

[demo dutch]

20. All this gay talk.....Charlie Crist must be pissing in his pants!!