Almost no one--gay, straight, Republican, Independent or Democrat--would disagree that Congressman Mark Foley violated the public trust and engaged in morally unacceptable conduct in his emails to former Congressional pages. The opprobrium is universal and deserved.

What is important is how an institution responds when a member engages in unacceptable behavior. For many years, the Catholic Church looked the other way in cases of alleged clergy misconduct and allowed pedophiles to continue to serve as priests. Large compensatory settlements reflect the institutional cover-up. The Church’s unwillingness to deal with those priests enabled isolated pedophilia to unnecessarily scar many children.  

The issue in Foleygate is how Congress responded to Congressman Foley’s predilection for pages.

The Congressional staffer who demonstrated courage was Kirk Fordham, the former senior aide to Congressman Foley.  As early as 2003, Mr. Fordham alerted Scott Palmer, then Chief of Staff to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, to Congressman Foley’s inappropriate contact with teenage pages. Mr. Fordham left Congressman Foley’s employ.

Kirk Fordham, an openly gay man, is expected to testify to the House Ethics Committee that he is aware that there were at least two meetings between Chief of Staff Palmer and Speaker Hastert about his concerns. Mr. Fordham voluntarily met with the F.B.I., which is investigating whether a federal crime has been committed.

At a time when Republicans leadership operate under a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the Congressional profile in courage is a gay Republican. Kirk Fordham risked his career to do the right thing.

There is no difference in how gay and mainstream citizens view pedophilia:  it is unacceptable and reprehensible. Youth need to be protected from those who would prey on their vulnerability.   Mr. Fordham’s response represents both gay and mainstream family values.  Kirk Fordham deserves our nation’s gratitude.

ABOUT EQUALITY FORUM

Equality Forum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) national and international GLBT civil rights organization. Equality Forum (www.equalityforum.com) undertakes high impact initiatives, produces documentary films, highlights gay history and presents annually the largest national and international GLBT civil rights forum.