Ken Mehlman, the Hypocrite

by Ryan Shattuck in Ryan Shattuck | 0 comments

Coming out of the closet as a gay man or women is not an easy process.

There’s a lot of paperwork to fill out; a new state identification card has to be issued; there are separate gay tax forms to be filed; and the federally mandated homosexual agenda has to be memorized. So it makes sense why it took Ken Mehlman, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee as well as George W. Bush’s former campaign manager, many years to come out of the closet.

The dust has mostly settled since Mehlman came out a few weeks ago in The Atlantic. In the article written by politics editor Marc Ambinder, Mehlman explains why it took him so long to publicly admit that he is a gay man:

“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life … Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”

Although opening up about his sexuality has made Ken Mehlman “a happier and better person,” many people are quite angry at the former RNC Chairman, for coming out years after leading the Republican Party through some of its most anti-gay years in recent history. Under Mehlman’s direction, several states passed legislation banning same-sex marriage in 2004, and promoted a political aura of intolerance and discrimination that has plagued the Republican Party for years to follow. Naturally, many gay and lesbian men and women have labeled Mehlman a “hypocrite,” have satirically awarded him the “Roy Cohen Award” for “managing the most anti-gay Presidential campaigns in history” and have even called Mehlman a “Quisling Homophobic scumbag.”

Is Ken Mehlman a hypocrite for coming out as a gay man after leading anti-gay political party? Or does he deserve our sympathy for being ‘brave’ and admitting his sexuality in the midst of an anti-gay political party?

Mehlman is currently in the process of repenting for his past sins by working with the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which supports a legal challenge to California’s anti-same-sex marriage proposition, and is attempting to garner sympathy with statements such as the following:

“I can’t change the fact that I wasn’t in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally … If they can’t offer support, at least offer understanding.

“What I do regret, and think a lot about, is that one of the things I talked a lot about in politics was how I tried to expand the party into neighborhoods where the message wasn’t always heard. I didn’t do this in the gay community at all.”

Although some members of the gay community, such as Oscar-winning screenwriter and gay activist Dustin Lance Black, believe that “Ken represents an incredible coup for the American Foundation for Equal Rights,” the aftermath of damage caused by Mehlman during his anti-gay reign of political terror is so deep and entrenched in society that any apology and action is too little, too late.

Mehlman states that, in regard to his traitorous, self-internalized homophobia, “At least for me, it wasn’t like there was a light-bulb moment,” and “The reality is, it’s taken me 43 years to come to terms with this part of my life.” Yes, some people take a long time to come to terms with who and what they are. Some gay men and women come out of the closet when they are teenagers; others take several decades to deconstruct and determine their sexuality. Other excuses and justifications may also be applied to Mehlman’s situation, such as:

Are Americans not allowed to have opinions and political beliefs that evolve and shift with time and experience?

Haven’t we all belonged to a job, a political party or another organization that made a decision with which we disagreed?

Aren’t public figures allowed to maintain a semblance of privacy in regard to their personal lives?

Aren’t Americans afforded the right to have private lives that are not dictated by their politics?

Yes, Americans can change their minds; yes, most of us have belonged to an organization that may have made a decision with which we disagreed; yes, public figures deserve privacy; yes, Americans have the right to support politics that disagree with their private lives.

Nevertheless, most Americans are not in positions of power to affect national policy that affects the lives of millions of fellow Americans. Although all Americans are afforded the right to be as public or as private about their lives as they desire, most Americans do not influence policy that prevents other Americans from marrying, from visiting their partners in the hospital, and do not help create a political atmosphere that leads to the potential suicides of closeted gay teenagers.

Ken Mehlman is no ordinary American, because he changed history in ways that very few Americans have. He does not deserve the privacy or sympathy of the average citizen. He gave up those rights long ago, when he started receiving a regular paycheck from the Republican National Committee, encouraging him to strip as many rights away from gay men and women as possible.

No, coming out of the closet is not easy for anyone, even Ken Mehlman. And I doubt he’s even started filling out his paperwork.