Satan Calling, He Needs a Parka

Brace yourselves, those of you that have more than a passing acquaintance with me and my blogging....you're in for a shock.

First off, this is all related to the coming out of Minnesota GOP state senator Paul Koering today.

Point 1:

Over on BlogActive, Mike Rogers has made the point that the story of Koering is his and was "stolen" from him. If this is the case, whoever did so should be completely and thoroughly ashamed of themselves. While I have disagreed with Mike on virtually every issue, no one should be allowed to steal or plagiarize another person's work.

Furthermore, if Mike helped Koering make the difficult decision to come out, Mike is to be absolutely applauded. As everyone knows, I oppose involuntary outing, no ifs ands or buts, but this is not involuntary -- it is someone choosing to make a bold and courageous step forward that will undoubtedly advance gay rights, quite possibly at his personal expense. I have advocated since day one that the key to dealing with closeted individuals who have worked against gay rights is helping them to understand and come out themselves, and if this is what Mike has started doing, more power to him -- he will have my support.

Point 2:

I agree completely with both LCR and HRC when they oppose outing in any circumstance. We'll have to work on Koering. (grin)

Point 3:

To Senator Koering.....thank you, sir. The decision you made today is both wise and powerful, with the effects being far greater than you can imagine. I wish you the best of luck and support from North Dallas Thirty.

OK, that's all the surprises for tonight. (wink)

UPDATE: 12:58 AM, Thursday 14 April: Yes, I know I'm up too late. However, the more I read about this story, the more entertaining it gets.

First off, Blog Ally Lloydletta and her counterpart Carson of Minnesota Liberal are providing valuable local insight in their comments, including the fact that emails were circulating a month ago that Koering was at a local gay bar bragging about the Minneapolis Star-Tribune talking to him to get his coming-out story.

In addition, there is an interesting disjoint when comparing the RAW STORY account to the Star-Tribune article. In the RAW STORY article, Koering allegedly supports outing; however, in the Star-Tribune, his attitude changes when related to his OWN outing:

At about the time of the vote, gay and lesbian activists were e-mailing reporters and legislators pictures of Koering allegedly taken at a gay bar in Minneapolis. He doesn't seem pleased with efforts to "out" him against his will. He says of pressure from the activists: "They can do, and I'm sure they will continue to do, whatever they want, which I think is a sad state of affairs...

Given RAW STORY's checkered record when it comes to truthfulness, my thought is that the story there is slanted to provide positive PR for Mike Rogers, especially after the embarrassing incidents over GayPatriot. If not, one wonders why Koering supports outing others, but opposes others outing him.

Meanwhile, Rogers is frantically claiming over on GayOrbit that he was not going to report on Koerner REGARDLESS of how Koerner had voted on the marriage amendment. This nicely corroborates my argument that Rogers's and Aravosis's "outings" have little to nothing to do with one's actual voting record and are driven primarily by personal and partisan vendettas.

Finally, from my standpoint, this is a victory and a half for gay conservatives. In addition to the obvious good point of another out Republican, we now have the Rogers/Aravosis crowd stating on record that a gay Republican who supports state DOMAs, letting people vote on whether or not to amend state constitutions to discriminate against gays, and is rabidly pro-life is a) not antigay, b) not to be outed, even if they vote in favor of antigay state constitutional amendments, c) not "self-loathing", and d) is in fact an "American hero". In their desperation to gain some, nay ANY, endorsement for their work, they've made themselves and their criteria for outing completely irrelevant.

Now, to bed!