Hospital: Former Rep. Studds dies at 69

[tpsbmam]

Former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay person elected to Congress, died early Saturday at Boston Medical Center, a hospital official said. He was 69.


Studds, a liberal Democrat who spent more than 20 years in Congress, was censured by the House in the 1980s for having sex with a 17-year-old male page. He was re-elected for several more terms.

Last year he married his longtime partner, Dean Hara, in Boston.

http://snipurl.com/yzsj

[rosesaylavee]

1. Would imagine that

having his name and censure reearthed after all these years didn't do much whatever health issue he was struggling with... how sad for him and his family.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Evidently, he sustained a head injury while walking his dog?

:shrug:

[DesertRat]

11. blood clot

"Studds fell unconscious Oct. 3 because of what doctors later determined was a blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said."

[rodeodance]

2. sad for his partner. My sympathy.

[Glorfindel]

3. He was a good, brave man and one of my heroes

I'm sorry he's gone. He deserved a longer, happier life.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Great rep. for those in his district.

He stood head and shoulders above his detractors.

RIP, Gerry.

[butterfly77]

6. I thought that they had reported that he was..

already dead.

[ls317]

7. Studds vs Foley

When Studds seduced his young friend, it was consensual and within the age of consent in D.C., which was 16 at the time. It was sleazy, but it was legal. Foley, however, is an adult who contacted minors on the Internet across state lines for sexual purposes, and they have objected.
The more significant political difference is that Studds never pretended to be a choirboy, while Foley was prominent on the Republican “family values” platform, pandering to the Christian Right’s homophobia. This is why Foley’s case is a political issue and not merely a matter of private conduct.
When Studds’ immoral involvement with the page became known, Democratic leadership in Congress did not hesitate to censure him. Today’s Republican leadership, by contrast, tried to cover up Foley’s conduct in an election year, which is the height of hypocrisy.

[Hepburn]

8. Your post...

...pointed out some excellent and factual points as to why there is a large difference between these two situations. Good post...thank you!

:hi:

[Laughing Mirror]

9. Studds was only about 35, while the page was 17

That was in 1972. What is or was so sleazy about that? Is it that one was a congressman and the other just a page?

[xchrom]

10. that is sad to hear.

the republick party's attack on studds only highlights the real manipulation of reality by those conservative creeps.