10/14/2006
Former Massachusetts Rep. Gerry Studds Dies at 69
Was First Openly Gay Person Elected to Congress
Former U.S. Rep Gerry Studds died early on Saturday. He was 69.
Studds had been admitted to the hospital on October 3rd after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband Dean Hara told the Boston Globe.
Hara said the reason for the hospitalization was a blood clot in Studds' lung.
"[After being hospitalized] Studds regained consciousness and seemed to be improving. He was to be transferred to a rehabilitation center, but his condition deteriorated on Friday because of a second blood clot and he died at about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. Hara, who married Studds shortly after gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004, said doctors were not immediately sure where the second blood clot originated."
Studds represented Cape Cod and the Islands, New Bedford, and the South Shore for 12 terms. In 1983, when a former Congressional page went public with an affair he had with Studds ten years earlier when the page was 17, Studds came out publicly. Studds was censured after defending his relationship with the page as one that was consensual, but survived the scandal.
While in Congress, Studds fought heavily for gay rights, marriage, and AIDS issues and marine protection environmental programs. After retiring in 1997, Studds became a lobbyist for the fishing industry. The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, was named for Studds when he retired from Congress to recognize the work he had done on behalf of marine issues.
Said Hara of his husband, the long-serving congressman: "He gave people of his generation, or my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do."
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Posted 11:45 AM EST by Andy Towle in Democratic Party, Gerry Studds, Massachusetts, News, Provincetown | Permalink
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educated,degrees, art history, english, physics, um, astrophysics, art history, berkley, stanford, ...degrees, boyfriends, FRIENDS, um, degrees..money
Posted by: patrick | Oct 14, 2006 12:09:28 PM
To this day, I never understood why Studds didn't rise higher. I heard him speak years ago and he was simultaneously smart and eloquent, even spellbinding. Perhaps he simply didn't have the ambition, but TWENTY YEARS AGO he survived the Puritan fires of a sanctimonious Congress when, gasp, his affair with not just another man but a much younger man, oh horrors, a FORMER PAGE, was revealed, and did it with dignity and defiance. He didn't resign and go into hiding or claim to be an alcoholic. He stayed and literally turned his back on the House members as they voted to censure him. And both he AND the former page told the World their affair was nobody's goddamn business!
Yet, branded with the Scarlett H, and, undoubtedly, irratinal accusations of child molestor, he ran for reelection and WON FIVE TIMES! Because he had character, he had balls, and he was a great representative of the interests of his district. Like Frank Kameny, he never looked like Reichen, even in his youth, so most of the gay male world forgot him, if they'd heard of him at all. That is a greater shame than anything the homophobes in DC tried to do to him.
Posted by: Leland | Oct 14, 2006 1:00:41 PM
Yeah he was f***ing a 17 year old kid 20 years ago. I wonder why he didn't rise higher on the national scene.
Posted by: Huh? | Oct 14, 2006 2:33:19 PM
Wow; Bitter? party of at least two...
Posted by: kile Ozier | Oct 14, 2006 3:16:55 PM
R.I.P.
Posted by: Patrick | Oct 14, 2006 4:03:35 PM
R.I.P. Gerry.
Hopefully people will allow you to rest in peace and will respect your husband and family by taking you off the whipping post as a counter attack for the Foley scandal.
Posted by: Zeke | Oct 14, 2006 6:57:26 PM
RIP - You child molester. No wonder you were a hero of the Democratic party at the time and survived your misdeeds while Foley is labelled a pedophile. Truth hurts.
Posted by: David | Oct 14, 2006 9:03:56 PM
David....yeah, Studds had a long and successful political career and Foley is forced to resign in utter and humiliating disgrace when it got too politically "hot" and the Republicans couldn't cover up his inappropriate behavior anymore. (giggles)
The ironic thing is, for you, is that Studds will probably be given a State Funeral with full honors while Foley is home with nothing to do but masterbate while watching Sesame Street. (giggles again)
Yeah, the truth does hurt, I'm sure.
Posted by: Bryce | Oct 15, 2006 12:28:17 AM
This saddens me beyond belief. Gerry (remember folks, it's a hard G, as in "google" and his namesake is where we get the word "Gerrymander" from) Studds was a fantastic legislator, the single most inspiring speaker I have ever had the pleasure of hearing (and it was at a rededication of a monunment, not a policy debate!), and a man who encouraged me not only to come out (eventually), but to participate fully in civic life.
Gerry Studds will truly be missed. I was saddened to see him retreat from the public eye in recent years. I an truly heartbroken to learn that I will never be able to call upon his knowledge and insight again.
He was a great man, and there is no doubt in my mind that the earned ever single re-election he won. This is a man who took it upon himself to learn Portuguese when his district was altered to include a the large Portuguese-speaking population of New Bedford. What congressman these days would consider doing that? Who could do it successfully, and not just for cameras or soundbites?
I was troubled by the way he came out (the censure issue) but I was thrilled that he continued to do his job, to represent the Cape and the Islands (and in later years, the other areas of his district) better than any one before him or anyone since (no offense to William Delahunt, but you're no Gerry Studds).
I feel honored I heard you speak. I treasure the time you represented me in Congress. I wish I knew you better, Gerry. My heart goes out to his husband and their friends.
We have lost a great man. We are truly the poorer for his passing.
Posted by: tjc | Oct 15, 2006 1:09:12 AM
A consensual relationship with a seventeen year old, that is just not right. Studds would have been around 36 then. It would seem to me if you're going to chastise Foley you would do the same to this guy. And why would the former page ever go public with this information back in 1983?
Posted by: Jeff | Oct 15, 2006 2:07:47 AM
The fact remains that this was all settled over 20 years ago with a censure and he moved on to have a productive career in politics.
Foley is well aware of the history of Studds, yet Foley resigned because he knows his situation was more despicable. He prayed upon young people whereas Studd's relationship was indeed consensual as professed by the 17 year old page himself.
Posted by: Bryce | Oct 15, 2006 2:56:17 AM
Gerry Studds was my congressman and friend. From the Portuguese fishermen to the Cape gays and lesbians he was a national leader on the issues that were important to the district and that had benefits for the entire nation. In recent years Gerry worked behind the scenes on numerous causes. He was a great man, a strong leader, a loving human being, and most importantly an articulate man who can touch anyone and everyone through words and inspirtation.
Posted by: Stephan Nofield | Oct 15, 2006 9:25:36 AM
What matters is not that the young man was much younger than Gerry at the time, it is WHAT WAS THE AGE OF CONSENT IN THAT JURISDICTION. If the age of consent was 17 or below, then it truly was nobody elses business...
Posted by: David | Oct 15, 2006 10:20:06 AM
This is the first tiem I have seen this reference in a national press wire;
Said Hara of his husband, the long-serving congressman: "He gave people of his generation, or my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do." The use of the word husband is so refreshing.
Also, about the page issue - I do think that it was inappropriate, but the lawmakers in DC (Congress) made the age of consent 16, so while it seems icky, it wasn't illegal.
Posted by: Joel H Robbins | Oct 15, 2006 10:39:08 AM
Sorry David - I just read your post or I wouldn't have said essentially the same thing.
Posted by: Joel H Robbins | Oct 15, 2006 10:40:49 AM
Slight correction -- he learned Portuguese in the early 1970's, not later on.
Very nice article in Sunday's Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/15/his_leadership_changed_mass_forever/?page=full
Who are the giants among us now?
Posted by: tjc | Oct 15, 2006 11:31:28 AM
And the link got trimmed (something not shown in the preview).
Click the link on my initials, or cut and paste these two lines together:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/
15/his_leadership_changed_mass_forever/?page=full
Posted by: tjc | Oct 15, 2006 11:36:03 AM
It is interesting to compare Studds with Foley. And it causes you to wonder: If Foley had been a Democrat, would he have had to resign? And would a political circus of this magnitude erupted?
It seems the public holds Democrats to a lower standard of behavior than that of the Republicans. If you are a Democrat, you can have sex with pages, sex with interns...heck, you can even drown your mistress...and not only will you get re-elected, but you'll be a respected elder statesman and lionized when you die.
A Republican who does any of these things is drummed out of the party in disgrace.
Posted by: Pompeius | Oct 15, 2006 1:51:18 PM
It's amazing how people here condemn Foley flirting with ex-pages here and lionize Studds for doing the same thing. Studds was much younger, he was in his 30's not 50's, and he seems to like it that way since his husband is 49, again a 20 year age difference. You really can't have consensual flirting can you? Someone has to make the first move. How do we parse this? On one hand we can be certain that politicians don't care about the morals of other politicians, but rather, use moral lapses to their advantage. I suspect Studds survived his scandal by simply being a better inside player than the hapless Foley, who was mostly a fundraiser in rich district. Studds was also protected by Tip O'Neill and the Mass. Dem political machine. Also, back then, sexual harrassment "theory" was not as enforceable or developed as it is today. Another comparison is to Jim McGreevey, who did not survive his scandal politically. Serious historians will need to work this out in time.
Posted by: Anon | Oct 15, 2006 2:16:40 PM
...although, the term "gerrymander" is about 100 years older than Studds was, and is pronounced with a soft "g," after the last name of the massachusetts governer for whom it was named... and this is astounding in that I remember it from, I think, 8th grade Social Studies....yikes...
Posted by: Kile Ozier | Oct 15, 2006 2:28:36 PM
Funny that he dies at age 69. How gay.
Posted by: Rich | Oct 15, 2006 3:20:12 PM
Pompeius: once again,you have demonstrated that you have oil sludge for brains. Your persistence in trying to equate Studds and Foley—just like the fanged, desperate, ruthless Repugs—is not just the absence of critical thinking but the faculties to recognize the difference in facts that only those with a political agenda or the mentally disabled manifest.
First, the Democrats treated a REPUBLICAN, Congressman Crane from Illinois who admitted to an affair with a 17-year old female page during the investigation in 1983, THE SAME WAY they treated Studds—censure. Nor was there any claim, let alone testimony, that the Speaker then, Tip O'Neill, was COVERING UP for Studds OR Crane. Both are facts that you and the Repugs are conveniently ignoring in accusing the Democrats of special treatment then and and a double standard today. That is simply a Right Wing lie, but then they have had such practice. The events are similar only in that they both involved members of Congress and pages. Period.
Most importantly, and please read this again vewwwy slowly. Move your lips if you'd like. Read out loud or have your mommy read it to you. Studds' affair with the page, by the page's agreement, long after the fact, WAS CONSENSUAL. That means, again...slow down, don't read too fast and continue to confuse yourselves...that he—in his own words, years after the fact, years after he could be thought to still be under the "undue influence" of a powerful man—fully agreed to participate of his own volition. When he, at age 27, said, along with Studds, that it was nobody's business but THEIRS, that included YOU, bitch. Studd's DID agree that it was inappropriate because of the de facto superior/employee relationship. NOT the sex. NOT the age difference.
From the transcript of the 1983 interview of the former page by the House Ethics Committe when he was 27:
"At that point, according to the page's testimony, the congressman engaged the page in sexual activity. The page testified that the sexual relationship continued after that first night:
"Q. Did you and the congressman get together subsequent to this?
"A. Yes. I would imagine we had dinner three or four additional times. Specifically I do not recall. But that is in the ballpark.
"Q. And did you engage in sexual activity each time?
"A. Yes.
"Q. When the congressman first invited you to have dinner and as you got to know the congressman, how did you feel in that environment, that a congressman was talking with you?
"A. I was flattered and excited.
"Q. Did you feel intimidated?
"A. No, I did not. I would like to state at this time--it would probably have been better if I had stated this in my opening statement--but the congressman or the Honorable Gerry Studds was an intelligent, witty, gentle man with I think a high level of insecurity. He did nothing to me which I would consider destructive or painful. In another time, in another society, the action would be acceptable, perhaps even laudable. Unfortunately this is not the case. I have no ax to grind with him. I have nothing negative to say about the man. In fact, I thought that he provided me with one of the more wonderful experiences of my life, if we exclude the instances of sexual experience which I was somewhat uncomfortable with. But I did not think it was that big a deal.
"Q. You said you felt uncomfortable with it, did you continue with him because he was a congressman, because he was someone you were impressed with?
"A. No. Well, I kept company with him because he was an intelligent man, a fun person to be with. If I could have had my druthers, I would have had the friendship that I had with the man without the sex. And I mentioned that to him.
"According to the page's testimony, his sexual relationship with Rep. Studds continued during their trip together in August, 1973. The evidence does not indicate that any official funds were used for the trip. The page testified that he paid his own air fare to Europe, and a portion of the cost of meals and lodging with Rep. Studds. The page testified that his relationship with Mr. Studds ended when they returned to the United States. The page also testified as follows:
"Q. Did Mr. Studds ever offer any preferential treatment or offer you any inducement to have a relationship with him?
"A. No, he did not.
"Q. Did he ever threaten you or coerce you if you did not have a relationship with him?
"A. He did not. Essentially all I needed to do to stop the relationship was walk out the door, or not go in the door, as the case may be.
Ignoring this explicit testimony by the page of his ability to leave at any time and not return repeatedly as he did, Neutron Gingrich has focused only on the fact that they had drinks the first time and, therefore, calls it "date rape." You're in great company, Pompass. Gingrich, Dobson, Wildmon, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, all the other screeching orifices of the American Taliban—and you.
Posted by: Leland | Oct 15, 2006 4:21:03 PM
"Pompeius: once again,you have demonstrated that you have oil sludge for brains."
"Most importantly, and please read this again vewwwy slowly. Move your lips if you'd like. Read out loud or have your mommy read it to you."
"You're in great company, Pompass. Gingrich, Dobson, Wildmon, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, all the other screeching orifices of the American Taliban—and you."
Hmm, more personal attacks by Leland...ooops! I mean PASSION, passion by Leland! Mustn't confuse vitriol with passion, nosirree!
Yes Zeke, I too greatly admire Leland's PASSION!
Posted by: Pompeius | Oct 15, 2006 5:01:57 PM
Good God(sorry if I offended anyone, NOT!!) You guys are so lamebrained who cannot see how hypocritical you are. Remember the first step in healing a problem is recognizing you have a problem. RIP Studds you pedophile.
Posted by: Jones | Oct 15, 2006 9:44:11 PM
Leland: Yes, yes, if we conclude that Studds' behavior was fine then we must parse the vitriol against Foley the same way. Except for the page dorm "incident" he was only flirting (or having Internet sex of some sort), which may have violated the new Internet predator law, but by the old Studds standards would have been less incidental if more creepy. Secondly, Crane did not survive his separate but essentially equal scandal and of course they would have arranged for both members to receive equal official punishment "censure" (which involves few if any actual punishments--perhaps the loss of some privileges). Why? because a member from each party was involved and Studds wasn't going to be kicked out.
Were Crane and Studds the only members to sleep with pages? Hardly. So how do you survive getting caught sleeping with pages? Information on other congressmen. Was Foley really important to Republicans? Apparently not.
Maybe congressmen are more vulnerable to scandals and the public less forgiving after all this time.
Posted by: Anon | Oct 15, 2006 10:09:55 PM