Posted on 07/26/2005 3:19:06 PM PDT by eartotheground
He has tackled the question in public twice now, with more politeness and directness than such an invasive query deserves.
Still, there is a lesson in watching Republican Gubernatorial Candidate and Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist deal openly with an issue that has dogged him covertly for years:
Is he gay?
It's an oddly uncomfortable episode that reflects Florida's own contradictory relationship with gay people, gay rights and the question of whether an openly gay person can, as a practical matter, hold a major office in this state.
Crist first faced The Question publicly Jan. 15 during a meeting of the Tampa Tiger Bay Club in which a woman asked, "I have heard that you were gay, sir, and I wanted to know if that was true." The second time he faced The Question, it was in response to a request from Tampa radio personality Dave McKay, who had asked Crist on his show Jan. 18 to pop the query, "Are you a homo?"
Both times, Crist denied being gay. With McKay, he expressed wonderment that anyone would ask.
But anyone who remembers how Florida's newest U.S. senator, Mel Martinez, criticized his straight-arrow Republican primary opponent Bill McCollum as "pandering to gays" knows Crist likely had to address the speculation before his expected candidacy for governor could begin in earnest.
And with a record percentage of hate crime attacks connected to victims' sexual orientation last year in Florida, Sunshine State Republicans can still get a lot of mileage from accusing candidates of getting too close to gay people.
(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...
It's nobody's f'ing business unless he's married and shown that his word can't be trusted.
who's business is this?
This is the man's PERSONAL life.
it matters because this man is running for a rather high elected office. However, if the guy has said he is NOT gay and is adamant about it (as he apparently is), why don't we just move on?
If he is a liar, his story will fall apart.
"Gay Rights" is another scheme by the socialists to create more government handouts and corporate extrortion, while at the same time continuing the assault on the family and the mythical "patriarchy".
OK I agree with that.
yeah
the press has this fixation on OUTING everyone in political office. I don't understand it.
I would want to know before I voted for someone. It is part of who they are and what they believe. With all the homosexual activists in our faces, I think it's a very fair question. I want to know if someone is going to be pushing a homosexual agenda in public office.
Most of the press are whores.
What "we" are you talking about? I don't tune into gay themed TV shows. I gather that most who do don't vote for laws declaring marriage to be between a man and a woman.
""Irrelevant? One word: "McGreevey"""
I disagree, McGreevey's sin wasnt he was gay, it was he hired is incompetent boyfriend to run homeland security
"Howell's position still seems a little naive - overlooking a pervasive bigotry within the GOP that has been exploited by the party in a cynical ploy for votes."
Consider these examples of liberals using their own anti-gay bigotry against the GOP:
http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/001017.php
"Unlike most Americans his age, 21-year-old Euan Blair, son of the British prime minister, is about to get a real education: an internship on the House Rules Committee under the GOP's most powerful closeted congressman, David Dreier. "
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=74982&ran=126361
August 31, 2004 | Last updated 7:38 PM Aug. 31
VIRGINIA BEACH - U.S. Rep. Ed Schrock abruptly announced his retirement late Monday, citing unspecified allegations that "called into question my ability to represent the citizens of Virginia's 2nd Congressional District."
The two-term Republican did not answer questions or address the allegations. ...
a Web site called blogACTIVE.com posted claims that Schrock engaged in homosexual activity. ...
a Web site called Virginia News Source reprinted the claims and challenged Schrock to respond to them, but offered no corroboration itself. The site is operated by former Virginia Beach Councilman Robert Dean and Morris Rowe, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Owen Pickett.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/15/MARY.TMP
Said Edwards, "And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing."
After Edwards' comments in the debate, moderator Gwen Ifill told Cheney, "Mr. Vice President, you have 90 seconds."
"Well, Gwen," Cheney said, "let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much."
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/taylorad1.html
A Republican candidate today (10/10) dropped out of the Montana Senate race claiming that the state's Democratic party gay-baited him in a new attack ad. The 30-second TV commercial, paid for by the Montana Democratic Party, focuses on allegations that GOP candidate Mike Taylor diverted federal student loans when he ran a Colorado beauty salon/hair care school. The controversial spot uses clips of Taylor from a segment that once ran on a Denver station (and which promoted the Michael Taylor Institute of Hair Design). Taylor contends that the Democratic party's use of the "Beauty Corner" clip was done to insinuate that he was a gay hairdresser. In the spot, Taylor appears to be giving a facial (click here for video stills) to a male customer. "The ad has destroyed the campaign. We have no money left and we don't want to stoop to the same level," said Alan Mikkelsen, who spoke today to the Billings Gazette. (2 pages)
The Left Outs "conservative" Reporter http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27730-2005Feb15.html
The Left Starts A Gay-Outing Witch hunt against Judge Roberts http://www.charmaineyoest.com/archives/2005/07/whos_homophobic.html
Fox News ^ | 7-21-05 | The political grapevine
An extraordinary story has emerged involving former Lyndon Johnson
aide and now PBS commentator Bill Moyers. The story was told in The
Wall Street Journal by retired federal appeals judge Laurence
Silberman, who reports that when he was acting attorney general under
President Ford a memo written by Moyers to the FBI came to light in
the press.
The memo, which dated from the 1964 campaign between President
Johnson and Barry Goldwater, directed FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover to
investigate the Goldwater campaign for evidence of homosexual
activity.
It came after Johnson aide Walter Jenkins had been arrested in a
Washington men's room. Silberman reports that Moyers called him and
claimed [at first] that the memo was a phony planted by the CIA.
Silberman says he told Moyers he would investigate the matter and, if
he was right, he would exonerate him publicly. At that point,
Silberman says Moyers backed off saying, "I was very young. How will I
ever explain this to my children." Moyers could not be reached for
comment.
"it matters because this man is running for a rather high elected office. However, if the guy has said he is NOT gay and is adamant about it (as he apparently is), why don't we just move on?"
Agree, he didn't hedge on it.
As Mrs. Cheney would say, they're not decent people.
That story was soooo February 2005. Nobody in Florida cares.
What do I care if the man's gay or straight? If we agree politically, I'd vote for him. If we don't, I won't vote for him. Such a storm in a teacup...
We have been married for 23 years with 2 terrific kids and I am adamantly against gay marriage as is my wife.
I honestly don't know what the hullabaloo is about.
I completely agree. What is people’s fascination with this crap. I'm sick and tired of my tax payer money funding research to find the "gay gene" or people's sex “habits” and the press wasting their time try to "out" politicians.
I couldn’t care less about other people’s sexuality/sex lives.
It's only important to the press if he's Republican.
If he has taken money from Gays to run for office, then he is gay ... PERIOD.
Liberal St. Pete Times are desperate. Crist is going to win in a landslide and Harris may defeat Nelson. Negron is going to beat Mahoney. FL is solidly red.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.