LAST
MONTH’S
ELECTION
results
were
filled
with
victories
large
and
small
for
gay
rights
supporters,
but
those
results
were
achieved
in
part
by
using
sex
panic,
a
political
strategy
that
always
damages
our
community.
One
of
the
keys
to
the
Democratic
victory
was
the
exposure
of
former
Rep.
Mark
Foley’s
(R-Fla.)
inappropriate
messages
to
congressional
pages.
The
Foley
incident
was
a
contemporary
sex
panic,
similar
to
the
controversy
that
surrounded
Gerry
Studds,
the
late
Democratic
congressman
from
Massachusetts.
Certainly
20-plus
years
altered
the
rhetoric
from
Democrats
and
Republicans,
as
both
feared
being
labeled
homophobic,
but
sex
panic
still
works,
and
it
still
works
in
hackneyed
and
hurtful
ways.
In
Foley’s
case,
the
sex
panic
unfolded
like
this:
a
closeted
Republican’s
homosexuality
is
exposed
in
conjunction
with
lurid
references
to
his
potential
as
a
child
abuser.
The
Republican
Party
is
shamed
by
a
homosexual
in
its
midst,
termed,
at
best,
abusive
of
his
power,
or,
at
worst,
a
child-molesting
pervert.
The
silence
of
the
Democrats
and
the
gay
and
lesbian
leadership
allowed
the
issue
to
linger,
leading
to
victory
for
the
Democrats.
It’s
a
reliable
formula:
link
someone
to
homosexuality,
perverse
sex,
extend
it
to
their
associates
and
watch
them
fall.
IT’S
NEITHER
INNOVATIVE
nor
new,
and
it’s
fundamentally
a
lie
about
sexuality.
Clearly,
Foley’s
behavior
was
inappropriate
and
wrong.
It
was
sexual
harassment.
But,
in
the
absence
of
anyone
else’s
public
honesty,
I
recognized
Foley’s
behavior
as
common
in
our
community.
That
is
not
to
say
that
it
wasn’t
wrong
or
that
it
was
right.
While
we’re
being
honest,
let’s
acknowledge
that
sexuality
is
more
complex
than
black
and
white.
To
me,
Foley’s
behavior,
if
divorced
from
his
position
of
power
as
a
member
of
the
House
of
Representatives,
is
in
a
complicated
grey
area
of
sexuality.
Despite
our
legal
structure,
which
dictates
that
people
only
become
sexual
beings
at
age
18,
the
reality
is
that
young
people
experience
sexuality
and
sexual
development
earlier
than
that.
They
look
to
adults
to
help
them
understand
and
interpret
it.
Adults
are
often
ill-equipped
to
do
this
as
a
group
and
as
individuals,
in
part
because
of
the
societal
stigmas
about
sex,
particularly
homosexuality.
When
young
people
look
to
us
with
questions
about
sexuality,
questions
that
may
not
be
phrased
as
such
but
may
be
unspoken
in
brief
interactions
or
electronic
exchanges,
we
confront
our
own
history
of
sexual
development
and
its
concomitant
homophobia.
The
result
of
all
of
this
spoken
and
unspoken
stigma,
anxiety
and
concern
is
a
teenage
sexuality
morass
that
leads
to
further
silence
and
alienation.
When
young
gays
look
to
adults
to
help
them
understand
sexuality,
some
adults
are
helpful;
some
are
exploitive;
some
are
flirtatious;
some
are
silent.
Some
molest
teenagers
and
sexually
exploit
them;
some
help
teens
understand
sexuality
in
positive
and
healthy
ways.
We
don’t
really
know
where
Foley
lies
on
this
continuum.
THE
SECOND
SEX
panic
center
was
with
Rev.
Ted
Haggard
in
Colorado.
Accused
by
a
gay
man
of
using
crystal
meth
and
paying
for
sex,
Haggard
was
forced
through
the
usual
public
shaming
activities.
The
new
twist
was
that
the
exposure
came
from
a
gay
man
with
a
political
agenda.
The
formula
is
still
the
same,
however.
Here’s
the
problem:
sex,
even
gay
sex,
isn’t
shameful.
And
as
long
as
this
paradigm
of
sex
panic
remains
functional,
it
will
be
used
against
gays.
When
a
child
molester
becomes
the
metonymy
for
all
gay
men,
we
object
loudly,
correctly
and
righteously.
We
must
do
the
same
when
gay
sex
becomes
a
metonymy
for
hypocrisy
among
Republicans.
Participating
in
the
creation
of
sex
panics
for
our
own
(perceived)
political
gain
only
works
to
strengthen
the
future
sex
panics
against
us.
Sex
panic
is
always
going
to
work
against
us
in
the
long
run.
It
works
only
because
we
embrace
lies
and
half-truths
about
sexuality.
We
are
wisest
when
we
work
to
build
a
movement
and
a
national
dialogue
about
sexual
liberation.
