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SULLIVAN: Let me ask you a question. If you found out that a leading Republican official who never said anything about homosexuality, for example, not a word, turned out to be privately gay, would you out him?
GREEN: No.
SULLIVAN: Why not?
GREEN: What he does in his bedroom is his business. I mean, Bennett was out in public...
I'm not really sure what it means to be privately gay. I mean, can one be privately straight? I guess if one has *never* been seen in any public setting with a partner that would qualify, but that's just about impossible. And, being gay is quite separate from what one does in one's bedroom, as is being straight quite separate. Father Mychal Judge was gay, but celibate (presumably at least). The latter fact doesn't nullify the former.
Andy himself outed Janet Reno, Ed Koch, Rosie O'Donnell, Richard Simmons, Donna Shalala, and Donna Brazile. I'm not sure if they were "privately gay" as I'm not sure what that means, but they weren't publically "out" either (I'm not even sure if they're all gay - or if Andy is sure.)
Well, anyway, I guess inconsistency is the hobgoblin of power glutes. As Andy once wrote:
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“There comes a point, surely, at which the diminishing public stigmatization of homosexuality makes this kind of coyness not so much understandably defensive as simply feeble: insulting to homosexuals, who know better, and condescending to heterosexuals, who deserve better. It’s as if the closet has had every foundation and bearing wall removed but still stands, supported by mere expediency, etiquette and the lingering shards of shame. Does no one have the gumption just to blow it down?”