"Interesting" photos inside Mark Foley's Washington house:

[cboy4]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4249984.html

According to one journalist, his home in Washington was filled with photographs of the unmarried Foley with his arm around various attractive women, including actress Heather Locklear. Like others, the journalist found this to be a form of protesting too much, "as if he was going out of his way to prove his heterosexuality."

<snip>

Denial of double life not peculiar to conservatives

By KENJI YOSHINO

HERE'S the burning question about gay politicians: How could Mark Foley or Jim McGreevey have believed in the sustainability of their double lives?

Both had routinely acted on their same-sex desires. Both knew public scrutiny is an occupational hazard for politicians. What were they thinking?

Yoshino is a law professor at Yale Law School
and author of "Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights"
(Random House).

What? Did Foley have a subscription to "Playboy" to try to fool his Republican postal carrier as well?! :eyes:

Freak.

[Philosoraptor]

1. an interesting phenomenon

fear of discovery, fear of being fired or banished by his own peers, fraidy cats all.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

2. Actually, the articles can be quite good in "Playboy."

I know straight women that read it.

I'm sure Foley was using it as a "cover," though.

[cboy4]

4. I think they are as well, which is hilarious because they're the

butt of so many jokes.

You mean "cover" as in cover the windows so the neighbors couldn't see what he was doing when he got a page from work (so to speak) ;)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. Yeah, that sort of cover.

I always feel weird talking about Playboy articles seriously. It's like, "yeah, so I read this really great article about the election in Playboy." Sometimes you get funny looks that way. It's quite amusing.

[cboy4]

8. Yea, but thanks to the internets, you can generally at some point read

the stories online without having to purchase the magazine.

So much information is linked to lots of different sites these days!!

[wickerwoman]

3. Nice how they bring Jim McGreevey in.

Having an adult lover who isn't your subordinate isn't the same as cruising 16 year olds who work for you.

How many Americans can see that distinction? I'm not holding my breath.

[cboy4]

7. The author's writing about double lives, not cruising for teen boyfriends:

"Like Foley, McGreevey thought he could separate his orientation from his office."

That's an absolutely fair example if you read the entire piece.

[xchrom]

6. in the case of mcgreevey the question is wrong.

mcgreevey is about a case of of a man hiding from who and what he IS.


in the case of foley it about hiding what he DOES.

gay men still find it very difficult to come out -- there is still tremendous societal pressures to conform -- and in the case of gay folk it's tantamount to warping us.
but that's sexism, isn't it?

what ever part of foley that is an adult gay man -- the same is true -- but he has fetishized his sexual drive.
do i think he's a pedophile a la the catholic priests -- no.
but he himself has cornered and changed his sexual drive into an image of perfection -- young male perfection.

and that of course utterly prevents him from developing into a full adult person.

this is what happens -- and worse -- to many conservative, tradition ridden gay folk.
their version of sexuality becomes warped -- what should be a joy, a thing to celebrate -- becomes diseased.

always remember -- the best friend of child abusers -- is social conservatism.