May 16, 2003  |  By: LAURA DOUGLAS-BROWN  | COMMENTS     

Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.), a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2004, “is gay” and “the people have a right to know,” according to a column published last week in an alternative Florida newspaper. But while no openly gay person has ever served in the U.S. Senate, Foley’s staff contends the issue is irrelevant to voters.

“Generally, I just don’t discuss Congressman Foley’s personal life with reporters,” Kirk Fordham, Foley’s chief of staff, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday when asked point blank if Foley is gay.

“When Congressman Foley travels around the state, voters are a lot more interested in his view on things like prescription drugs or Medicare reform or the threat terrorism poses to their lives,” Fordham said. “He doesn’t ask about their personal lives, and they certainly aren’t asking about his.”

Foley was not available for interviews on the subject, according to Fordham. Foley and Fordham also declined interviews with the New Times Broward-Palm Beach for writer Bob Norman’s May 8 column, “Out with the Truth.”

In the nearly 2,000-word column, Norman decries the way most media outlets have ignored the issue of Foley’s sexual orientation, even while reporting on a possible controversy over his voting record on gay issues, which is much more positive than many Republicans.

“Those votes, of course, were more likely motivated by his personal life, or if you prefer the cynical view, by a strategy to keep gay constituents at bay so they won’t force him out of the closet,” Norman wrote.

The column quotes several sources — ranging from an openly gay Democrat who serves on the Wilton Manors City Council to a member of Florida’s Christian Coalition chapter — who say it is well known, though not openly discussed, that Foley is gay.

But the most direct evidence in the article comes from Tracy Thorne, who gained national recognition when he came out while serving in the U.S. military to protest the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

While Thorne, now an attorney, has urged Foley to come out for years, he offered evidence for the first time supporting his claim that the Florida Republican is gay. He told Norman that Foley — a family friend — brought his boyfriend on a visit to the Thornes in the early 1990s.

“Based on all of the people I spoke with, I felt sure [Foley] was gay, but what put it over the top was Tracy Thorne,” Norman said in an interview this week. “He has no reason to lie about it.”

Thorne could not be reached for comment.

Fordham declined to discuss Thorne’s claim, noting that, “I really don’t know what he is referring to.”

“I would point out that Tracy — who I think is a very courageous young man who certainly served his country well — made a decision when he entered the military to withhold information about his own personal life,” said Fordham.

“He served for quite some time in the military dishonestly, and I think it is unfair of him to now demand that everyone else disclose details about their personal lives, especially when it may affect their job or position in society.” The issue first came up in 1994, during Foley’s first run for Congress, when according to Norman, the GOP primary opponent sent out mailings alleging that Foley was gay. One publication at the time quoted Foley as saying, “I like women,” Norman reported in his column

Foley readies senate run

Foley will formally announce “in the next couple of months” his bid for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), according to Fordham.

Graham’s decision to run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination touched off a scramble among candidates, both Republican and Democrat, for his potentially open Senate seat. Foley has said he will run for the post even if Graham changes his mind and seeks re-election.

No openly gay person has ever served in the U.S. Senate, and only three out of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are gay.

Out of the more than half million elected offices in the country, there are only 246 openly gay officials and only 17 in Florida, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based group that supports gay candidates across the nation. None of the 246 was elected in statewide races.

Jason Young, spokesperson for the Victory Fund, criticized Norman’s decision to “out” Foley.

“We are opposed to outing anyone,” Young said, adding that he has no “insider information” about Foley. “We want people to be openly gay candidates by their choice — the whole idea is ...