Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Gay Outing Hubbub About to Begin

A movie is coming out this week, being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 1, known as Outrage the Movie which, according to the film narrative "tells the story of the history and workings of Washington DC’s glass closet and the hypocrisy of powerful forces that benefit politically by promoting public policies that deny rights to gay and lesbian citizens."

In short: it's a documentary about being gay and political in Washington, DC. There has been a little hype, but BlogActive decided to shake things up today...

...reporting that the movie will out Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Some rumors have flown that we'll be seeing quite a few prominent anti-gay folks outed with this documentary, but surely, if they do out Crist, then that will be the hallmark of the show. 

I just have two questions:
  • Is it time, then, to reapproach the ethics of outing an elected official? I once read somewhere that outing is only ethical under a few circumstances, in cases like anti-gay legislators, moderate legislators that support anti-gay legislations, and, in some cases, even pro-gay legislators (but I forget the circumstances). Of local note, one of the important points is that it is considered unethical to out a politician who is in the closet but supports LGBT issues.
  • Is this just the creation of buzz? Are they trying to create interest in the movie, all of a sudden? I'm just asking. It would be freakin' awesome if it were real, especially since Gov. Crist took a nosedive into a marriage to seem more friendly as a VP ticket in 2008. In my world, we call those women "beards." My fear is that it's just further speculation and won't have anything definitive, if anything at all.
Regardless, I'll be interested in seeing the movie.

If you look further at BlogActive... he even has a list of in the closet reps/etc. on the left side of the page. 

3 comments:

Jere Keys said...

When I get home, I'll look up the really excellent and thoughtful position on outing put together by AfterElton. To date, it's the best answer I've seen on the ethics of outing.

Barry Floore said...

Thank you darling. I knew someone else had read that article, but I could never find it again.

Jere Keys said...

Part 1: Dennis's RulesPart 2: AfterElton's Official editorial policy on Outing