Dec 29, 2006  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J and JOSHUA LYNSEN & ELIZABETH PERRY | COMMENTS     

of outness” that exist today, Shields said.

“The sadness of the Ted Haggard story was that he was a liar and played on people’s fears, and couldn’t be true to who he was,” Shields said. “I think what people saw there was a hypocrisy to the attacks that go on against gay and lesbian couples, and gay and lesbian families.”

That sense of hypocrisy amongst conservatives and Republicans helped amplify the discontent many voters were feeling with the country’s political leadership, Foreman said.

“I think there were much larger issues than Mark Foley that influenced the elections, but with that said, I think both the Foley and Haggard scandals reinforced the perception of the right wing forces of the Republican Party as being cynical hypocrites,” Foreman said. “To that extent, I think they helped influence the elections.”

In addition to being part of the tide that helped Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress, the Foley and Haggard scandals left religious conservatives facing many difficult questions, Sammon said.

“Those on the fringe of the right who are saying people should try to live a ‘straight’ life — this should cause them to re-examine what kind of false information they are spreading,” Sammon said. “Certainly, it has to cause them to reconsider the dishonest rhetoric they are using about gay and lesbian people.”

Lifting the curtain

Just as a good number of gay men and lesbians groan when Foley or McGreevey appear to come out of the closet for political expediency, Shields said many collectively “rolled their eyes” upon seeing Lance Bass’ grinning face on People magazine with the headline, “I’m gay.”

But while some people discounted Bass’ confession as a publicity stunt by a fading star, some young gay people “viewed it as a profound moment” that someone from their childhood came out as gay, Shields said.

“It allows one more point of reference for young people and their parents to talk about being gay,” Shields said. “When there’s somebody who can put a face on that, it hopefully just opens the dialogue a little bit.”

But not everyone is convinced celebrity outings have much impact on the way society views gay people.

“Coming out doesn’t help Matthew Shepard, or the kids who come out and could still get disinherited,” said David Van Leer, who teaches about gay Hollywood at the University of California, Davis. “What it does is make homosexuality more public &md