"Outrage" a new film directed by Kirby Dick is a documentary that is based on
the work of Mike Rogers who examines prominent, closeted gay politicians and their very public, active campaigns, and appalling voting record against the LGBT community. Rogers actively works to expose these closeted gay politicians with research and true reporting through his blog website. The list of secretly gay politicians is overwhelming and surprisingly long, as is their poor voting record against gay rights. A popular argument against the film is that these men deserve their privacy. I have to disagree, much to the contrary of the Washington Posts article titled
'Outrage' Drags Politics' Conservative Wingtips Out of the Closet. The article basically argues that there is mostly no real substance behind the evidence. But who needs substance? There were numerous sources who told, in person, detailed accounts of their encounters with prominent government representatives with descriptions of intimate regions of their bodies, homes, decorations, etc. Although the bulk of the evidence is circumstantial, it doesn't mean that it is readily disposable. The fact of the matter is that these politicians, gay, closeted, or not, are making a huge (or lack thereof) contribution to LGBT rights in order to prove to themselves and the public that they are not gay. If they wanted, they could make serious, positive change for themselves and for the rest of the LGBT community that they covertly belong to. If all politicians who are closeted came out and openly admitted they were gay, the issue of gay rights would no longer be an issue. In order to keep the popular vote and reaffirm their straightness, they must keep their dirty little secrets locked away and promote traditional family values. The media also pushes a lot under the rug in order to protect their right wing allies, or to avoid legal confrontation (except in the case of Larry Craig). It's a vicious circle of deception, and the public deserves to know about the private lives of their representatives in order to decide who is trustworthy and who is not. Some will say that personal opinion or religious beliefs shouldn't or don't affect the way that representatives make policy, but it absolutely does, especially when there reality is scewed by the psychological effects of a double life. They are undeniably traitors to their own selves and traitors to their voters. We deserve to know if our lawmakers are hypocrites because it affects us directly through their policy making.