Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009

S.C.ANDALICIOUS

If you remember former Senator Larry Craig, a Republican from Idaho - then you've surely heard the name Mike Rogers. Rogers heads the popular blogActive.com Web site which outs anti-gay legislators who are secretly in the closet. Yahoo! News has said that "He's starting to make Capitol Hill look like Brokeback Mountain." His site and allegations even led documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick to create "OUTRAGE," which is described in a press release from Magnolia Pictures as "a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians with appalling gay rights voting records who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to."

Rogers outed Craig more than a year before his little bathroom incident at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on June 11, 2007. Many criticized him for not having proof. A year and-a-half prior, Mark Foley, former Republican Congressman from Florida, was exposed for sending inappropriate e-mails and text messages to young male pages, Rogers reported that he had a habit of hitting on men "less than half his age."

Basically Rogers has made a career of exposing hypocrisy on Capitol Hill and outing closeted leaders, specifically those who speak out against equality for the LGBT community. Now, he has taken aim on South Carolina. On his site blogActive.com, Rogers reported Monday that he can now confirm rumors that that S.C. Lieutenant Governor André Bauer is gay. Rogers alleges that Bauer is "a closeted anti-gay politician who stands to replace Mark Sanford should (Gov. Mark) Sanford resign or be impeached."

Rumors have abounded for years regarding the single conservative politician's sexuality. Even out-of-the-closet politician Linda Ketner, who ran for Congress in 2008, but was defeated by incumbent Rep. Henry Brown, referred to Bauer, 40, as being in the closet in an off-the-record chat with a reporter that later ended up on the online political site www.firedoglake.com. Rogers reports that he has spoken with four individuals who have been hit on by Bauer, has met with someone who's had sex with him on two separate occasions and has spoken with former staffers of Bauer who allegedly witnessed men spending hours alone with Bauer in his hotel room. Rogers claims that "there have been many rumors over the years ... but now they are, for the first time, verified on the site that has 100 percent track record of this reporting."

Bauer, in a June 30 article by The State newspaper, denied being gay, bringing the topic up without prompting, according to the article.

I'm sure there will be more about this in the coming months and if Rogers' record stands correct, I suppose we'll get some confirmation in a year or two. Who knows, maybe he's got more up his sleeve for our conservative state that has an abundance of gay rumors when it comes to elected officials. Could this be leading to "OUTRAGE II: S.C. Really is So Gay"?

In other news, same-sex marriages began in Vermont this week, making it the fifth state that now has marriage equality for same-sex couples. In April, Vermont became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through a legislative decree and not a court case. New Hampshire also legalized same-sex marriage this year, but the law will not go into effect there until Jan. 1. In response, Vermont-based ice cream company, Ben and Jerry's has re-branded the popular "Chubby Hubby" flavor to now be called "Hubby Hubby" to show it's support of gay marriage. To read more, visit http://www.benjerry.com/hubbyhubby/.

Out & About

Friday, Sept. 4 - The Gay Professionals Happy Hour will meet from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday at Tommy Bahama's Tropical Café at The Market Common in Myrtle Beach. For more information, e-mail FirstFriday@GambleLivingston.com.

Sunday, Sept. 6 - CLAWS, Coastal Leather Allegiance to Wisdom & Service, will host its annual "End of the Season" Cookout at Myrtle Beach State Park starting at 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available from any CLAWS member or can be purchased at Time Out!. For more information, visit www.clawsllc.com.

Monday, Sept. 14 - Time Out! starts its annual bowling league Sept. 14 at Waccamaw Bowling Lanes, 101 Gray Drive (on the U.S. 501 feeder road, west of Bob Evans restaurant). The league is open to anyone interested and teams will be "4 mixed" which means in non-bowling terms that they'll be teams of four, with men and women. There is a $17 sanction fee and $15 per week dues. To sign up, you need to be at Waccamaw Bowling Lanes no later than 6 p.m. on Sept. 14. For more info, send an e-mail sandsetter@aol.com.

Monday, Sept. 14 - You read all about it here in Surge. Knock Down Drag Out drag competition is set to start anew on Sept. 14 at Time Out!, located at 520 Eighth Ave. N. in downtown Myrtle Beach. Each week contestants compete against each other for audience applause. The last competition saw many newcomers to the art of drag as well as some professionals. Whether you're interested in competing or just ready to enjoy the entertainment - Mondays will soon be full of excitement. For more information, call 448-1180 or visit www.timeoutmbsc.com.

Carolina Pride Events - S.C. Pride kicks off on Sunday with a Rainbow Candlelight Worship Service at the Garden of Grace United Church of Christ in Columbia, followed by a Pride Opening Ceremony at the Harriet Hancock Gay and Lesbian Community Center. Events will go on the remainder of the week with the main festival taking place on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Finlay Park. For a complete list of events, visit www.scpride.org.

N.C. Pride Fest & Parade is on Saturday, Sept. 26 - in the Raleigh/Durham area. The festival and parade will take place in downtown Durham and there will be nightly events in Raleigh and surrounding areas. For more information, visit www.ncpride.org.

Till next week, have fun and be safe.

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