A poll on Lavender

[aztecan]

For those unfamiliar with the issue:


http://www.lavendermagazine.com/

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/06/24/midwestern-magazine-outs-lutheran-pastor/#

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/24/2041461/questions-raised-over-magazines.html

[aztecan]

Having been a reporter for 20 years, I cringe when this type of "reporting" surfaces.

OK, I don't agree with what the Lutheran preacher has espoused and I think someone "struggling with chastity" at his advanced age is fooling himself.

But, beyond that, this guy wasn't out dancing the dirty mambo with every twink he could find in the park. He was, from all appearances, genuinely troubled by these same-sex attractions he was reportedly having.

He was so troubled by this that he joined a Catholic group that promotes chastity for gay men. OK, it ain't for me, but we aren't talking about me.

This also was a private group where anonymity is supposed to be guaranteed and the reporter for this gay publication went "undercover" and, in effect broke his word.

That is probably what bugs me the most. It is highly unethical to go "undercover" to get a story. It would be like me, as a reporter, pretending to be a doctor to get the dirt on some celeb who has the clap. It is just not right and tarnishes the ideals set by journalistic standards.

Or at least there were standards when I went to college. Heaven knows what they teach today.

Comments?

HUGS,

Mark

[Ann]

Anyone who publicly declares that bad weather is the result of homosexual activity deserves what they get. If this guy hadn't been such a hypocrite, what support group he went to would not have been an issue.

I'm glad he got outed. Maybe he'll think twice before he blames a tornado on gays or lesbians.

[Hellraiser]

Anyone who publicly declares that bad weather is the result of homosexual activity deserves what they get. If this guy hadn't been such a hypocrite, what support group he went to would not have been an issue.

I'm glad he got outed. Maybe he'll think twice before he blames a tornado on gays or lesbians.

Word.

I hate to be this spiteful, but perhaps if he had just been a man of the cloth dealing with same sex issues instead of dragging other people into it, this wouldn't have happened to him.  There are consequences to your actions as we all well know.

[Matty the Damned]

Since I am not a journalist I won't comment on the ethical practices of the correspondent referred to in the OP. That is beyond my ken.

As an gay activist I can comment on outing.

When deciding if it is appropriate to out someone it is necessary to balance the needs of the community (the GLBT community) against the rights of the individual involved. Is the person a public figure? How much power or influence to they exercise in public affairs? Most crucially, have they used that power or influence to the detriment of our people?

For example, outing Ted Haggard was appropriate. So too, outing a figure like Larry Craig.

Recently a minister (no, not a pastor) in the NSW Government, David Campbell MP was outed by a major television station.

Campbell, it seems enjoyed visiting gay sex on premises venues. He did nothing illegal nor did he expend any tax payers funds in the pursuit of this rather banal pastime. His homosexuality had no impact on his capacity to function as a minister of the Crown.

Campbell had a track record of voting in favour of GLBT law reform. He certainly did not campaign on "morality" issues. He is married to a woman and had represented himself as a "family man", which seems appropriate as he has two adult sons.

The outing of Campbell was generally held to be supremely unethical as the public interest was not served by knowing these rather salubrious aspects of his private life.

MtD

[mecch]

I am rather unethical and selfish in my beliefs about outing. I wouldn't support the person who outed the MP Campbell, as described by MTD, because MTD's arguments are correct. However, though that individual and family suffers, there is still general benefit from massive outings and people over time accepting a wider range of sexual behaviours as, in the end, NOT of interest. 

So he was married with kids, and likes some hot gay sex on the side. We shouldn't be interested in his story.

I think the bungled Clinton Impeachment didn't teach the US enough of a lesson as for moral hypocrisy about sexual behaviour.  I don't know about other countries.  France seems to shrug its shoulders about Carla Bruni being such a tramp and maneater, and now First Lady.  She's pretty and polite and does her job well enough, so who the fuck cares.

I am afraid that we need many many more outings of everyday Jacks and Jills in public life in order to flush this hypocrisy down the toilet for ever.

[Merlin]

I'm with Matty on this one.

Although outing Ted and Larry did add on a new dimension of trauma and nightmare to accepting that such trolls exist in our gay realm. Makes you think twice the next time someone tap thrice next to your private oasis. 

[Hellraiser]

And again...a homophobic public figure is in fact gay.   Although he has the distinction of embezzling 1.3 million in church funds to pay for his sexual appetite.

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/07/connecticut-catholic-priest-busted-for.html