Hypocrisy, not homosexuality, is the topic of this documentary, according to its director, Kirby Dick. The focus is on American politicians who aren’t merely closeted, but whose voting records reflect a hostility to gay rights. Most prominently, these subjects include Florida Governor Charlie Crist and the former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch. Strong circumstantial evidence, much of it based on the work of blogger Mike Rogers, suggests that these men are gay. Absolute evidence shows that they consistently voted for legislation such as the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act; Florida continues to bar gays from adopting.
It’s not that surprising that there would be politicians hiding their sexuality. But the effect of this is what the film explores. Politicians such as disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, and Massachusetts Senator Barney Frank thoughtfully speak to the corrosive effects of being closeted on their personal lives, and on their public ones. One formerly closeted interviewee recalls bullying other gays in school to prove he was not one of them, and compares the politicians’ behavior to this—anti-gay voting records serve the same purpose of avoiding public scrutiny. It is this inauthentic behavior that Dick believes justify the “outing” the film engages in. He notes that this outing has already taken place in the gay-oriented press, yet mainstream publications have ignored such stories unless they erupted into scandals such as with former Senator Larry Craig, who continued to deny being gay even after his arrest for lewed conduct in a public restroom became known.
Surely American society is moving to the point where even Republicans may be able to get elected without having to hide their personal lives. But that day will be hastened if people realize that there are already gay politicians of all political stripes serving them.
IMDB link
viewed 4/29/09 at Ritz Bourse and reviewed 5/8/09 and 6/13/09
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