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Kirby Dick's "OUTrage" Documentary


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Trailer for Outrage

"Outrage," a new documentary from filmmaker Kirby Dick, takes issue with the secret lives of closeted gay politicians -- especially conservative Republicans who outwardly oppose gay rights.

The film, which premiered last week at the Tribeca Film Festival, features tell-alls from men who say they've had relationships with various Republicans, including Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Bush strategist Ken Mehlman and former Senator Larry Craig.

According to Magnolia Pictures, "Outrage" is a "searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians with appalling gay rights voting records who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to."

In the documentary, Dick lambastes the mainstream media for not better investigating the politicians' "hypocrisy" and double lives. He told New York magazine that the film explores "the issues surrounding closeted politicians and their hypocrisy in voting anti-gay -- and how these people have harmed millions of Americans for many years."

"Outrage" premieres May 8 in five cities, including Washington, D.C.

I'll leave my opinion once the discussion gets going, I don't want to monopolize the debate with my unsurprisingly strong feelings on this issue, so how do you feel about this movie? Is exposing anti-gay legislators who participate in homosexuality fair game or is this an attack on someone's privacy?

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I'm actually quite torn here. Outing someone is most of the time a pretty low move, since odds are they have a good reason to not have outed themselves before then. Perhaps these politicians were raised in a particularly strict religious anti-homosexuality environment, which is entirely possible - I don't know many American politicians, given that I try and distance myself from politics anyway, and I'm Australian, but I'd wager that most of these people are at least in their 40s-50s, which would put their early upbringing before Stonewall and the gay rights movement gaining momentum. As easy as it is to say "you shouldn't be defined by how you were raised", the lessons you are taught early on by your parents are the ones that stick with you the most. So, if there are gay-in-denial politicians, then I could see plausible reasoning for this.

Having said that, I do feel a sense of poetic justice if these people have been closeted and fighting against the gay rights movement. Part of what enraged me about the Prop 8 decision was the amount of people from the black population who voted against gay marriage. There were people fighting for their rights years ago, and it was because people decided "this isn't right, no-one should be discriminated against because of the colour of their skin" that things like apartheid and slavery were abolished. These people, centuries ago, had no rights whatsoever and were often slaves. Now they have rights after a very long fight and they're using them to restrict the rights of another group? If there are gay politicians who are fighting against the gay rights movement, they need to get a grip on who they are, deal with it, and stop being hypocritical assholes. Whether this will do it or won't, only time will tell.

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I think that intentionally outing someone is a pretty shady thing to do under normal circumstances, but I can kind of see the purpose of shining the light on politicians who ran/run on platforms that pander to people who are against equal rights for gays. In all honesty the few people I knew who voted for Bush's re-election in '04 did so because he was hardline against gay marriages and abortions. They didn't agree with anything else he did, but that was enough to get their votes. I'm of the mind that at least 15-25% of people vote on those "values" determinations first and foremost which means that a decent number of politicians have won seats based on how they approach the issues surrounding gays. This goes for people on each side, but I'm assuming that they're not going to be outing a lot of Democrats here which is why I'm somewhat on the fence.

On one hand, I believe that whatever someone does in the privacy of their homes should remain private. On the other hand, I hate hypocrites with a passion. It takes someone with a real serious level of self hatred to engage in homosexual activities but to vote against equal rights for gays 90+% of the time. At the end of the day, I think that when you become a politican you essentially open up Pandora's box and if you don't want certain things about your life coming out into the open you should either (A) not do them in the first place or (B) not run on a platform that is the exact opposite of what you do at home.

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So long as it's not sensationalised, it's okay in my book, if they chose a life of politics then they are not applicable to the same privacy laws as the rest of us, politicans have to be held personally accountable as setting an example and if they're gay and yet going against gay rights then they're clearly not setting an example.

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As one of the token gays on the board, I know I'll be at the movie theatre to watch this one. I am so conflicted about the point of the movie and the outing of gay politicians. On one hand, I am of the belief no one should ever be outed - it is even worse when it is done by someone within the community. It creates a divide in the community and in my opinion, treats closeted individuals like second class citizens within the gay community. On the other hand, especially in this day and age, there is no such thing as privacy any more. Furthermore, by exposing these hypocritical politicians it can try and force those individuals and other individuals who are closeted politicians to rethink their stance. People always say things aren't ever black and white, things are shades of grey. I think this movie is a great example of that ... I really have no idea whether I will love, hate or be indifferent about those movie and it's message. But at the very least, I know I'll be at the movie theatre.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't personally think sexuality should even be an issue so for gay people to make money by outing politicians doesn't seem like the best idea. Especially if it's presented in a panty sniffer tabloid type of way, to which we can't comment on until it's out.

I'm also torn on if we have a right to out them just because they vote against gay legislation, I'd personally vote against some gay legislation and I'm happily out, much the same way some women are anti pro-choice or some house wives who are quite anti-feminist. Plus unless things are different in the States it's very rare for a politician to cross the floor over here, no matter how strongly they may disagree with something before parliament. So it's possible that gay, straight, bi, or whatever, chances are they would have been voting against it regardless.

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