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Edited on Sat Oct-14-06 08:39 AM by Divernan
The Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which sitts at the mouth of the Massachusetts Bay, is named for him. (That's a great whale-watching area). He was a very well-educated man who acknowledged his mistake, accepted his censure and continued to serve in Congress. He helped establish the Peace Corps. He did NOT go running into re-hab or blame others for his actions.
Gerry Studds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerry Eastman Studds (born May 12, 1937 in Mineola, New York - died October 14, 2006) is a retired Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts. He served from 1973 until 1997. He was the first openly gay national politician in the US. In 1983, he admitted to having had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male page in 1973 and was censured by the House of Representatives.
Biography
Studds attended Yale University, from which he received a bachelor's degree in history in 1959 and a master's degree in 1961. Following graduation Studds was a foreign service officer in the State Department and then an assistant in the Kennedy White House, where he worked to establish a domestic Peace Corps. Later, he became a teacher at a St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. In 1968 he played a key role in Eugene McCarthy's campaign in the New Hampshire presidential primary. <1968 In America, by Charles Kaiser.>
Studds made his first run for public Congress in 1970, but lost to the incumbent Republican representative in a close election. In his second bid, in 1972, Studds succeeded, becoming the first Democrat in 50 years to win what had been considered a safe Republican seat.
Congressional page sex scandal
Studds was a central figure in the 1983 Congressional page sex scandal, when he and Representative Dan Crane were censured by the House of Representatives for separate sexual relationships with minors – in Studds's case, a 1973 relationship with a 17-year-old male congressional page who was of the age of legal consent, according to state law at the time. The relationship was consensual, but presented ethical concerns relating to working relationships with subordinates.
During the course of the House Ethics Committee's investigation, Studds publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, a disclosure that, according to a Washington Post article, "apparently was not news to many of his constituents." Studds stated in an address to the House, "It is not a simple task for any of us to meet adequately the obligations of either public or private life, let alone both, but these challenges are made substantially more complex when one is, as I am, both an elected public official and gay." He acknowledged that it had been inappropriate to engage in a relationship with a subordinate, and said his actions represented "a very serious error in judgement."<1>
The House voted to censure Studds, on July 20, 1983, by a vote of 420-3. While Studds has often been reported as having "turned his back on the House" as the House read its censure motion aloud,<2> contemporary reports made it clear that in contrast to Crane, who faced the House as the motion for his censure was read, Studds faced the Speaker who was actually reading the motion, with his back to the other members.<3> Also in contrast to Crane, who left the chamber after his censure, Studds rejoined the other members of the House after his censure was read.<3> In addition to the censure, the Democratic leadership stripped Studds of his chairmanship of the House Merchant Marine subcommittee. Studds was later appointed chair of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
Studds received standing ovations, not in Congress as has been reported, but in his home district at his first town meeting following his congressional censure.
<4>
Subsequent Congressional Career
Studds was re-elected to five more terms after the censure. He fought for many issues, including environmental and maritime issues, gay marriage, AIDS funding, and civil rights, particularly for homosexuals. Since retiring from Congress in 1997, Studds has been a lobbyist for the fishing industry. Studds previously worked for two years as executive director of the New Bedford Oceanarium, a facility still under development.
Studds and his longtime partner, Dean T. Hara, who have been together since 1991, applied for a marriage license on May 18 and were married in Boston on May 24, 2005, one week after same-sex marriages became legal in Massachusetts.
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