Category Archives: Current Affairs

Remembrance of Sex Scandals Past — Gerry Studds

Gerry Studds. I keep wondering: why hasn’t his name come up recently, in all the furor about public figures and sex scandals. Was I remembering right — what did happen to him?

I do remember who he was: a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts; his district covered much of Cape Cod. And he got in sex trouble — but then it was kind of hazy.

So I looked him up. Turns out he was gay (I remembered that), and — well, some basics first:

He was elected to Congress in 1972. His district is known to outsiders as a place where many well-heeled folks hang out in the summer. But the locals are heavily involved in fishing. And so Studds became an expert on fishing and maritime issues. He also helped preserve many stretches of their beaches.

He was cruising along in Congress until, 1983 there was a high-octane (for the time) scandal involving sex between members of the House and Congressional pages, who were high school aged office staff.

Richard Spencer, U. of Florida & Free Speech: All Winners. But It Was Ugly.

Of course, Spencer wanted a huge media circus, and he got one; but he didn’t draw a meaningful audience from his targeted institution. They handed out 800 tickets for the event, but only about 400 showed up, including numerous press.

He also, with difficulty, got to make his speech, in the face of nonstop jeers & boos, advocating that a “white nationalist ethnostate” be carved out of the U.S. by “peaceful ethnic cleansing” (whatever that would mean).

On the way out, he was crowing:

Orlando Sentinel: “As . . . the throng of protesters who disrupted the event headed for the exits. Spencer insisted they hadn’t defeated him.

“You think that you shut me down? Well you didn’t,” he said. “You actually failed at your own game … because the world is going to look at this event and the world is going to have a very different impression of the University of Florida because you acted this way.”

Outside there was a crowd of a couple thousand protesters: rowdy, often profane, but essentially nonviolent; two persons were “detained”; a few pro-Spencer fans were roughed up, but were then escorted away by police.

Of course, the protesters had lots of help in keeping their overall cool: 500 or so police, state troopers, many heavily armed, including SWAT team snipers perched on the roofs and balconies.

Another Look: My Campus Crusade for Free Speech, 1963

While we worked on finding another suitably notorious Communist, we also set out to get a right-wing spokesman. This one was easier.
What was the most right-wing organization in the country? The Nazi Party, of course. And George Lincoln Rockwell, its flamboyant leader, was only too happy to talk to anyone who would listen. One telegram and he was set to go.
When Rockwell came, we moved to a smaller theater space in the student center, where it was still standing room only. Rockwell’s speech was a bombastic stream of bizarre sociological and anthropological “facts” that added up to, “they’re bad and we’re good.” I remember him saying that there were “breeds of people, just like breeds of dogs.” Dennis and I did not sit on a platform with him, as we had the others; the front row was close enough.
Several people walked out during his presentation advocating racism, anti-semitism & national socialism.
Rockwell caused lots of talk. A few days after his speech, some sociology professors held an open discussion they titled, “Is George Lincoln Rockwell a Closet Homosexual?”
While many dismissed Rockwell as a kind of evil clown, and he was murdered by own of his own in 1967, he remains a cult figure for sectors of the rightwing which are still around.

The Nashville Declaration Is a Hoot

And not least, there’s the Bibs’ theology, chronically misspelled as Complementarianism. Misled by the typos, they say it means women are to “complement” men by deferring & submitting (& by pretending LGBTs don’t exist).

But of course, what their theologians really meant was Complimentarianism, which shows what a difference the right “i” can make.

This much more nuanced and profound doctrine is built on repeating two Great Commandments —

First: “Darling, you look fabulous!” And,

Second: “That outfit does NOT make your ass look fat!”