Dear Congressman Foley,
I’m sorry that you’re going through all this drama for the inappropriate behavior you exhibited while serving your Congressional District. That being said, as far as I am concerned you paid the ultimate price by resigning your position and departing in disgrace. Casting your Congressional service aside, I have to take exception to the spin you and your minions have created in the aftermath of your self-induced scandal.
Congressman Foley, I was molested as a boy. I was sodomized by a pedophile who loved preying on young boys because he had issues with power and control. My molester isn’t gay. Society tries to tell me he is, but he’s not. He’s a pedophile — no more, no less. It took me years to heal from the trauma of countless sexual encounters as a boy. I don’t know which was worse — the fact that I was taken advantage of by a predator or the fact that I had relatives who were fully aware of what was happening to me and did nothing about it so as not to bring shame upon our family. That’s all water over the dam now. Those dark days have been stored away in a place where I won’t forget but can at least survive. That’s what I share with other folks that suffered the way I did.
When your indiscretions surfaced, you immediately spun things in the wrong direction. Yeah, it’s obvious you are gay. Guess what? So am I. I am gay not because I was sodomized repeatedly as a kid. I’m gay because that’s the way I was born. Nobody’s to blame. Nobody needs to feel any shame. I’m quite comfortable with who I am. Your experiences as a child did not mold you into becoming gay. If that’s what you’re using as your justification, the issue of your homosexuality is minor compared to your delusional rationalization for why you are who you are. Believe me, there’s no doubt in my mind that my molester knew I was gay even at an early age. I know that because he admitted it to me. We’ve discussed this at length and it doesn’t justify what he did. Congressman, you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of because of your homosexuality. You’ve got plenty to be ashamed of concerning your behavior. These are two distinctly separate issues.
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Article comments
1 - gonzo marx
powerful shit there Silas...
/golfclap
Silas sez...
*We have a couple of things in common. We're Republican in our roots. We're homosexual. That's where the line is drawn. I'm gay and proud. You're a coward.*
Quoted for Truth
Excelsior?
2 - Peter J
It's a hard world. I'm straight and I can't imagine how all gay men and women deal with their reality. I have many friends and the subject never comes up , probably because it's never been relevent.
I believe Foley's sexual orientation was already known around Washington and the issue was pedophelia. Does sex with a sixteen year old qualify one as a pedophile? I don't know the answer for that but his shame lies in his inappropriate behavior, not in his sexuality.
3 - Bliffle
Foley is The Sleaze That Never Stops Giving. Tries to slough off his responsibilities onto gays, priests and anyone else he can find. But he was a winner, so Denny Hastert just couldn't confront him, could he?
4 - RedTard
If a person has attractions for youth how can we expect them to deny their sexuality any more than we can ask a homosexual to start liking women?
Also, I think the actions taken were innapropriate, manipulative, and wrong, but not sick or disgusting in my book. I draw a line between those that are attracted to people after puberty and those that really prey on children. I don't believe the textbook definition of pedophilia even includes attractions towards those over age 13.
I think we water down terms like pedophile and rapist when we apply them to say a sixteen and nineteen year old having sex (statutory rape) or a man foolishly exchanging messages with a physically mature (but physically and emotionally developing) young person.
5 - RedTard
"how can we expect them to deny their sexuality any more than we can ask a homosexual to start liking women?"
I apologize to the lesbians who I left out in this comment. I suppose you already like women.
6 - Valmar
I think the gay community will rue the day they became complicit in equating pedophilia with pederasty. Mark Foley was a pederast. He was attracted to young men. Though the pages in question could not be considered adults, they were also not children.
Pedophiles are attracted to pre-pubescent children, either male or female. A true pedophile has no preference as to the child's sexuality. This misrepresentation dovetails neatly with the allegations of the religious right to cast all gay men as pedophiles. Gay activist like Andrew Sullivan add fuel to the fire by asserting that closeted gay men are more prone to act-out inappropriately. Really? In their glee to out gay Republicans, is that really the message the gay community wants to send? If even gays can assert that closeted gay men are prone to pedophilia is it such a stretch for the general public to assume that ALL gay men have that same propensity?
The over-reaction and misrepresentation by the Democratic Party and gay activist will only result in a slew of legislation that will make it more difficult for questioning gay teens to connect with others in the gay community. The Mark Foley fiasco is clearly a case of gay people winning the battle but ultimately losing the war.