I'm not posting this trying to solicit responses, however I

[cboy4]

feel it just can't be said enough considering the circumstances (and I'll continue pleading with people to try to remember.)

**Most gay people are not child predators.

**Most gay people do not prey on high school children and have no desire to do so.

**Some gay people are even parents who have children the same age as the kid whom this despicable Republican predator was verbally assaulting.

I'm so distraught that Foley has placed gay people back on the defensive concerning an issue the christian fundamentalists love to argue.

Perhaps I'm preaching to the choir here at DU, my home -- but this just makes gay people appear so filthy.

I hate it.

[uppityperson]

1. This has nothing to do with hetero/homo sexuality. k&r

[gully]

2. I understand your frustration and I'm sorry that you've had to

state the obvious. :(

[BattyDem]

3. It never occurred to me to think of Foley as a "gay person"

I think of him as just another hypocritical, GOP pervert! :grr:

[oldtime dfl_er]

8. same here

Never thought of him any way except as a perv.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/1383250

[TomInTib]

18. Me either

Funny that a (I suppose) gay person had to bring this to light.

I don't quite know what I think about that, in itself.

[progressoid]

4. Preach away! K/R

[rzemanfl]

5. I would add that they don't break laws they bragged about

passing to protect children. Hypocrisy is at the core of this whole thing. If I were a gay politician I wouldn't want the vote of one fundy asshole homophobe. Which easily explains why I would not be a good politician of any sexual preference. Go fuck yourself with your vote is not an effective campaign tactic.

[cally]

6. I've been worried about since the scandal broke

Too often folks seem to blur the distinction between being gay and desiring underage youth. I wish more folks would be careful with their language.

[readmoreoften]

7. We have as much to do with Foley as straight people do with

John Mark Karr, Ted Bundy, or the Green Mountain Killer. I'm confident that people on DU get it. I'm also confident that freepers get it, too. They're just so full of fucking hate they don't want to get it.

[libnnc]

9. I hate it too...

And because of people who conflate gays/lesbians with pedophiles, I don't like working with kids. I refuse to put myself in that position. I hate teenagers--don't care to be around them. Babies are cool though.

I could be a teacher, have a degree etc, but I'm a lesbian and I don't feel comfortable in a classroom with anyone younger than 18. I just don't want the hassle.

So I'll pursue my goal of teaching at the college/university level.

Edit for spelling. Pretty sad, I'm a grad student too...:banghead:

[nam78_two]

25. Thats really awful

I feel for you :(

I don't understand how people can be so close-minded on this issue...sheesh....

On the plus side kids are highly annoying ;)!

[cboy4]

28. Yup....I completely understand. I am the fastest pee'er in the west

when I'm in the restroom and there's nobody else in there but a kid.

How sad is that?

[LeftCoast]

10. You're not alone!

I hate it too.

[sandnsea]

11. I think it will clarify the distinction

Anybody who is inclined to think that way does already and isn't going to change their mind.

Everybody else will make a stronger distinction between the need to identify real sexual predators and dispense with this stupid gay witch hunt the country has been on.

I think it'll be okay in the end and I hope nobody let's it become a personal insult because most people really do not think that way at all.

[ovidsen]

12. Well put. K&R

You're probably preaching to the choir here, but this is a message that can't be repeatewd enough.

[rosesaylavee]

13. This is about pedophilia - NOT

about sexual preference.

And yes, it will confuse the bigots. But they are stupid anyway... that's why they are bigots.

[Oilwellian]

14. I agree

I was alarmed to see "gay pedophile" being used on DU so freely. I have to wonder if they also say "straight pedophile" when referring to one who preys on children of the opposite sex? I don't think so.

[Bonobo]

Apparently it cannot be said enough. Ignorance is a stubborn thing.

Thanks cboy4.

Most of us know it, but it is so painful when one of our own continues to confuse the two.

[lonestarnot]

15. Of course gay people are not child predators! All of my

friends are wonderful people with children of their own, some who have already grown up to be beautiful people. The pigs put out shit like this need to be burned at the stake. I didn't even give this a thought until I saw worries about it here and shit spewing that was posted here from freepers. :hug:

[me b zola]

16. I'm confident that most people here know the difference

I'm straight, but I despise when the rw and/or the ignorant conflate the two.

[kestrel91316]

17. It's not about the gayness. It's about the serial child sexual predation.

[gordianot]

19. I agree this is about pedophilia, the problem is Republican stupidity.

I am truly sick and tired of stupid ignorant pukes like Gingrich who do not know the difference.

"This morning on Fox News Sunday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich excused the House leadership for their apparent cover-up of Mark Foley’s predatory behavior. Gingrich said the emails seen by House leadership were “relatively innocuous, there was nothing sexual in those notes.” Asked if there should be “second thoughts” about the leadership’s conduct, Gingrinch responded:

Well, you could have second thoughts about it, but I think had they overly aggressively reacted to the initial round, they would have also been accused of gay bashing."

see link: http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/01/newt-foley/


:wtf:

[pitohui]

20. this ain't about being gay

it's about being a hypocrite

it's about trying to criminalize a pleasure you enjoy, so that you are "special" and the peons are put in prison for making out with the 16 year old boys while you enjoy such pleasures w.out consequence -- the ultimate exercise of power is to be free to commit injustice

it ain't about gay or straight

it's about privilege

they want all pleasures to be THEIRS only, any time they commit a hypocrisy, they need to be called out on it

they want gay people condemned and placed outside of "decent" society -- except for themselves -- they need to be called on it and pay the same price they would have you pay

this idea that whenever they are caught with hands in cookie jar it reflects badly on "all" gay people -- THEY EXPLOIT THAT -- but the gay man who is just trying to live his life is NOT the same as the closeted gay politician who is using his office to destroy other gay men financially and socially

[niyad]

21. like other posters here, I just thought of him as a repuke perv-

standard issue slimeball--never gave a thought to orientation--except reichwing, of course.

none of my gay friends would do anything like that, nor would any of my progressive, or pagan, or otherwise metaphysical hetero friends.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. IMHO, the problem with the Gross Old Perverts is repression

They become so ashamed of their feelings/curiosity/orientation that they grossly overcompensate in their public persona and consider their feelings of attraction to members of the same sex as a perversion. Since homosexuality (in their minds) is a perversion, there's no moral difference (IN THEIR MINDS) between being gay and being a predator.

If you're a Repub and you're going to be a pre-vert, might as well go whole hog.

I think it's a side-effect of their repression, personally. Normal sexual function can be corrupted by judgemental attitudes and hang ups.

He probably would have been a garden-variety normal gay person had he not wrapped himself in the whole family values myth.

[CoffeeCat]

23. Sexual abuse...

...is often so misunderstood.

Grown adults seeking sex with young people is about getting off on controlling
someone and gaining psychological dominance over someone who can be easily
manipulated and persuaded. Sexual come-ons or advances often paralyze victims
and the perpetrator absolutely knows this. Sex is their weapon.

Foley is a grown man. His penchant for teenagers is about his desire to control
the body and mind of another--and ultimately destroying it. That's what predators
are about. They seek control in their own lives---by controlling someone else.
The easiest way to break someone down--is to power up on them, and dominate
emotionally, physically and ultimately--sexually. Sexual abuse renders the victim
baffled, full of shame and distress. Again, the perpetrator absolutely knows this.

Foley is not only a grown man. He's a United States Congressman with power and
prestige. He was in a position of authority, over the young men he violated. His
position could be further used to gain control over the mind, actions and body
of someone. And that's what he did. He used his job to power up and violate
a teenager. What 16 year old is going to stand up to a veteran Congress member
with clout and political fame?

Sexual abuse decimates the soul and the central core of the person. This
isn't about sexual "attraction." It's about the perverse, sadistic desire
to tear apart people by gaining control over their mind and body.

Some predators prefer 5-year olds. They are attracted to destroying innocence at an
early age. Others, like Foley--prefer to decimate a person when they are in their teen
years. Most likely, this is the age at which they were violated themselves. They must
destroy the innocence, promise and hope of a teenager--because those exact
qualities were destroyed in them in their teen years.

Instead of dealing with their own rage and loss--they become triggered by children at
the age when they were abused. Predators can't deal with their own loss, so they attempt
to extinguish the promise of someone else--who reminds them of what they lost. Predators
aren't ATTRACTED to children or teenagers...they seek them out because they covet them.

[nam78_two]

24. No fear :)

The only people that would draw hateful conclusions about gay people from this sort of thing are hopefully not posting here...:hi:

This guy is probably not even gay. I think the reason there are so many rethug pedophiles is that they don't have sane, healthy attitudes towards sex...:shrug:
So it manifests itself in this kind of behavior...?
In my unscientific opinion, having weird attitudes towards sex can do that....

[Catherine Vincent]

26. I know what you mean.

My sister and I were discussing this Foley business just yesterday and she said something about he was a something faggot. I told her that she shouldn't call him that because the f word is a hurtful name like the n word is to blacks. I also explained to her that the congressman stepped down because he is an alleged pedophile and not because he's a homosexual. There are a lot of ignorant people out there that don't know the difference between the two.

[ms liberty]

27. I agree with you...

That's the aspect that bothers me about this - the fundies don't need any more ammo about gays.

[pinto]

29. I hear you. It's frustrating. One day gays will be no big deal.

It won't be an issue of notoriety in and of itself. Don't know when, but the day will come. I see my niece's generation and I'm hopeful. They neither snicker with innuendo nor make a big point of their attitudes about equality. Our commonalities seem genuinely taken for granted. As it should be, imo.

Don't let the fearmongers out there get you down, or define you and your world. Thanks for the post.

[helderheid]

30. You are right. Same for straights. There are fucked up people and

not so fucked up people. This isn't about sexual orientation period.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

31. I like how Foley

screamed that to say he was gay was a bad thing. How about pedophile? Isnt that a bit worse?