Upon Coming Out, Ken Mehlman Given Anti-Gay Award
BY CARLOS SANTOSCOY
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 26, 2010
Outing blogger Mike Rogers has given former Bush administration
official Ken Mehlman, who came out gay Wednesday, an
anti-gay award.
official Ken Mehlman, who came out gay Wednesday, an
anti-gay award.
Mehlman managed President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election
campaign and once chaired the Republican National Committee.
campaign and once chaired the Republican National Committee.
He denied rumors he's gay for years, including in a 2006 interview
with the New York Daily News. GOP operatives and friends have also
long denied knowledge of Mehlman's sexuality. Several dismissed
the question as offensive.
with the New York Daily News. GOP operatives and friends have also
long denied knowledge of Mehlman's sexuality. Several dismissed
the question as offensive.
But in an interview published Wednesday in The Atlantic, Mehlman
comes clean, saying it has “taken me 43 years to get comfortable
with this part of my life” and “It was very hard, personally,”
in reference to his remaining in the closet during his political career.
comes clean, saying it has “taken me 43 years to get comfortable
with this part of my life” and “It was very hard, personally,”
in reference to his remaining in the closet during his political career.
For Rogers, who first outed Mehlman in 2004, the news was vindication.
“It's always nice to know that my reporting is validated as correct,
even if the media has been hiding it for six years,” he said
in a blog post at his website BlogActive.com.
even if the media has been hiding it for six years,” he said
in a blog post at his website BlogActive.com.
Mehlman, who has since traded politics to become an executive
vice-president with the New York City-based private equity
firm KKR, said he decided to come out of the closet because he
wants to become an advocate for gay marriage.
vice-president with the New York City-based private equity
firm KKR, said he decided to come out of the closet because he
wants to become an advocate for gay marriage.
Rogers' Roy Cohn Award recognizes high-profile gay men and
lesbians who work against the interests of the gay community.
lesbians who work against the interests of the gay community.
He called Bush's 2004 Mehlman-managed re-election campaign:
“the most homophobic national campaign in history.”
“the most homophobic national campaign in history.”
“Ken Mehlman is horridly homophobic and no matter how
orchestrated his coming out is, our community should hold
him accountable for his past.”
orchestrated his coming out is, our community should hold
him accountable for his past.”
Rogers is best know for calling former senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
a hypocritical gay man when he accused him of sexual encounters
with men in a Washington D.C. public restroom long before his
infamous 2007 arrest in a Minneapolis airport restroom sex sting
operation.
a hypocritical gay man when he accused him of sexual encounters
with men in a Washington D.C. public restroom long before his
infamous 2007 arrest in a Minneapolis airport restroom sex sting
operation.
The Roy Cohn Award is named after a central figure of the 1950s McCarthy hearings. Senator Joseph McCarthy started a wave of panic when
he claimed the State Department had been infiltrated by communists.
Cohn helped McCarthy prosecute the alleged communists, which
fueled the hysteria and blacklisting that followed. McCarthy and
his team also targeted gays and lesbians. Cohn denied rumors of
being gay even after he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, claiming
he was dying of liver cancer
he claimed the State Department had been infiltrated by communists.
Cohn helped McCarthy prosecute the alleged communists, which
fueled the hysteria and blacklisting that followed. McCarthy and
his team also targeted gays and lesbians. Cohn denied rumors of
being gay even after he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, claiming
he was dying of liver cancer
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