Posted on 07/16/2005 12:12:46 PM PDT by gopgen
Gay-rights opponent Santorum stands by outed aide
BY STEVE GOLDSTEIN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The senior spokesman for Sen. Rick Santorum, R- Pa., Friday confirmed to a web log that he is gay.
According to PageOneQ, an online gay and lesbian publication, director of communications Robert L. Traynham, said that he was an "out gay man who completely supports the senator."
Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate leadership has been an outspoken opponent of homosexual rights and a leading proponent of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Santorum, who was traveling in Pittsburgh, released the following statement:
"Robert Traynham ... is widely respected and admired on Capitol Hill, both among the press corps and among the congressional staff, as a communications professional. Not only is Mr. Traynham an exemplary staffer, but he is also a trusted friend confidente to me and my family. Mr. Traynham is a valued member of my staff and I regret that this effort on behalf of people who oppose me has made him a target of bigotry in their eyes.
"It is entirely unacceptable that my staffs' personal lives are considered fair game by partisans looking for arguments to bolster my opponent's campaign. Mr. Traynham continues to have my full support and confidence as well as my prayers as he navigates this rude and mean spirited invasion of his personal life."
Mark Rodgers, chief of staff at the Republican conference, which Santorum chairs, said, "Robert is a tremendous employee and we're all for standing by him." Traynham's homosexuality was not news to the senator or his staff, he added.
In the online interview, Traynham defended his decision to work with the senator. "Sen. Santorum is a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in. I strongly do support Sen. Santorum.
Asked whether he supported Santorum's views on lesbian and gay issues, Traynham told PageOneQ, "Sen. Santorum is a family man. I have been with him for eight years and I am very proud to be with him."
The two-term senator is up for reelection next year. His expected Democratic opponent is State Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr.
Traynham began working for Santorum since 1997 as a press assistant and then deputy press secretary. He was press secretary for the senator's 2000 reelection campaign in Pennsylvania. Just prior to becoming communications director in the Senate office, Traynham served as director of communications for the Senate Republican Conference.
Traynham holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, where he currently serves on the Council of Trustees.
In supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit gay marriage, Santorum has equated homeland security with the sanctity of traditional marriage. He has referred to gay marriage as "messing with the basic family unit."
During an interview with The Associated Press two years ago about a challenge to the constitutionality of Texas's sodomy law, Santorum said that if the Supreme Court allows gay sex at home (which it ultimately did), "you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."
On the marriage issue, Santorum also said: "In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."
---
© 2005, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
OK - what group outed Traynham? Was it the gay group who had been bragging they were going to "out" all gay Republicans? I have read most all of the 200 plus posts on this thread and have not seen an inquiry/answer about this. Instead I see conservatives eating their own....just as whoever "outed" this guy intended. From what I've seen neither side here has convinced one person of the other side to their view.....nothing but near flame wars. I think it is more important to know who and why this guy was "outed".
HUH?
It's a false assumption; there is no necessary congruence. The unhypocritical and genuinely Christian response is exactly as Santorum has demonstrated and stated it.
Santorum is not a hypocrite unless you assume that anyone who knows, hires, or has a homosexual friend or family member has no choice but to support gay marriage or other social or political goals of gay activists.Especially since there's no consensus among homosexuals on the issue of marriage.
I'm not impressed with Santorum recently, but if someone's going to ding him, this is a really stupid reason.
Howlin, when you harp on what xzins' grandchild "is", you are confusing the meaning of what the word "is" is. Sounds Clintonian.
Recent, reliable statistics of persons who are confirmed gays and lesbians (not just a few adolescent experiences) put their numbers at less than 3% of the U.S. population -- far less than the 10% figure claimed by the now-debunked Kinsey. It would be hard to stretch that 3% over the entire rest of the population in an attempt to claim that everyone has a gay relative.
As my family's historian, having studied the ancestors and descendants on both sides of my family from the 1500's to the present, and the families of close friends, I can tell you that it has been common for most family trees to produce heterosexuals for centuries, on virtually all branches.
True, no one knows what people do in secret, but if you take the ability to marry, reproduce and stay married as indicators, it's possible to not to have any persons who feel compelled to identify themselves as homosexuals in multiple generations.
Our current extreme social disorder and anti-family propaganda may start to change all this. Remains to be seen. But to me, that is also proof that homosexuality is a behavior, not an inborn trait.
I beg your pardon? The conservatives I know place an overarching value on heterosexuality as a life-giving bond between husband and wife within the family unit, and negative value on other sexual arrangements including homosexuality. They are quick and consistent to judge this important matter. That doesn't mean they hate or are quick to mistreat people who demonstrate homosexual tendences or behavior, however.
Some conservatives haven't lost their good sense or voices. Thank goodness.
"For what it's worth, I think for anyone to call you "ugly" is laughable. :-)"
As you can see self serving hpocrisy has its ardent "conservative" defenders. LOL!
It disgusts me.
They talk out of both sides of their mouth. There is the PUBLIC mouth and the private mouth - no you don't need to elaborate on the private mouth of a hmosexual.
You may want to consider the fact that they are giving you a hard time because you are uptight about them. I worked in the fashion publishing industry in NYC and it was never an issue. You knew some of those guys had to be gay (I mean, the fashion sense!) but they never gave you any reason to think so.
I'm not all about politics. I think Santorum should hire who he wants. I think any Senator has that right. I think any employer has that right.
Just a menopoause joke, was having a hot flash while reading the thread.
--nothing to do with the subject.
For the record, I do agree with you. These articles do bring out the homophobes and the hypocrisy amazes me, especially since the holier than thou (or "them") chorus uses God to support their hatred. "It's God's word."
Well, the Bible also tells us to judge not, lest we be judged and get the log out of eyes before we worry about the speck in our neighbor's eye.
I have enough problems in my life to worry about than who sleeps with who. That is between them and God.
Further, IMHO, Sexuality and abortion have no place on a politcal platform.
See, I think you are born with a predispostion to being gay. My cousin is gay and his brother is the most macho thing to come down the pike. Same household, same high school, same college. They are fraternal twins so it's not genetic, but they shared as close to an upbringing as there can be.
That's where we differ. I also think this is a generational thing.
Do you really want to purge the party of homosexuals? They are not welcome?
You have made some excellent points here. Thanks, maybe you are here to influence us!
"But homosexuality is not inborn, not hereditary, and not unchangeable."
That's where we differ. I have a gay member of the family whose upbringing was remarkable similar to his straight brother. I believe he was just born different.
That doesn't really seem nasty. I think his point is, how would you deal with the fact that someone you love is gay. It's easy to spew venom at some unknown boogey man, but what about when it's your own blood?
Very well put, I must say.
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