The Gospel According to Marc:  

Wow. Just when I was about to write about Governor McGreevey we got hit by a Schrock Wave.

In case you lapsed into a coma watching the Republican National Convention, you might want to know that Rep. Ed Schrock (R-VA) recently resigned because he was taking time out from a busy schedule of persecuting homosexuals in order to pursue sex with them.

Based on a voting record worthy of the Inquisition, the arch conservative earned a 92% rating from Pat Robertson and the Religious Reich. (He missed the final 8% because he failed to nominate a fetus for Speaker of the House). Schrock (not to be confused with Shrek, another kind of ogre), was also a co-sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment. "It is God’s intention that men only marry women," he said, "and then cheat on them with other men." As evidence, he cited the Biblical example of Adam and Steve and Eydie.

Amazing. This is the guy who opposed gays in the military by saying, ‘’You’re in the showers with them, you’re in the bunk room with them, you’re in staterooms with them."

Yes, congressman, and apparently you’re on the phone with them, too.

(Incidentally, who Schrock was calling for sex is unknown, but rumor has it he sent flowers to Golan Cipel.)

What we do know is that the story was broken not by the mainstream media—or even the gay press—but by blogger Mike Rogers at www.blogactive.com. The gay community owes Rogers a debt of gratitude, perhaps in the form of sexual favors like those described by Rep. Schrock.

The practice of outing hypocritical homosexuals (even those as rabidly anti-gay as Schrock) has been condemned by the Human Rights Campaign, the Log Cabin Republicans and, not surprisingly, numerous closeted Hill staffers who call the practice "thimply ridiculouth."

At a time when the Republican Party has written discrimination into its platform, exposing the hypocrisy of its leaders is an odious but necessary task—not to mention a lot of fun.

"They declared war," says Rogers’ partner-in-slime, John Aravosis of www.Americablog.org. "We’re not going to respond with a hug."

(In a related story, Golan Cipel still insists he’s straight and doesn’t want a hug anyway.)

Closeted Republicans fail to recognize that their silence harms the cause of civil rights for all. Selfish to the core, their theme song is "It’s My Party and I’ll Lie if I Want To."

And let’s face it, outing works; with the notable exception of Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla), who has confirmed and denied his sexuality so many times his closet has a revolving door.

But when former Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-WI) and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) each came out under threats of outing, guess what? Their voting records on gay rights miraculously IMPROVED. It’s much harder to vote hypocritically when the hypocrisy is exposed. It’s called taking personal responsibility which, the last time I checked, is a cornerstone of the Republican Party.

But, it’s not only Republicans who are being targeted, although, according to Rogers, in the Understatement of the Year, "It just happens that a lot of Republicans are hypocrites right now."

Rogers is also going after any closeted Democrats, including former New York City mayor Ed Koch, who made a speech to the Republican National Convention and then spent a quiet evening painting his toe nails with the Bush twins. Rogers claims that Koch himself confirmed that he is gay in a personal phone call, though not the kind that Ed Schrock made.

I guess the old gay mayor just ain’t what he used to be.

Rogers now has his sights on Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who Michelangelo Signorile practically bitch-slapped in a bookstore in 1996 after she voted for the Defense of Marriage Act.

Interestingly, Mikulski didn’t take a stand against the FMA until after she appeared on Rogers’s site. You’re free to draw your own conclusions.

In the absence of accountability from an increasingly conservative media, bloggers like Rogers and Aravosis have done us a service by creating their own Patriot Act. As a result, homophobic hypocrites have nowhere to hide. Yes, thanks to these two bold activists, those gays are numbered.

And that, my friends, is The Gospel According to Marc.