Outrage, Republican Style

Billed as "a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to," the international premiere of Kirby Dick's Outrage was my second stop at this year's HotDocs festival. This aptly titled film successfully provoked its namesake in me, my companion, and judging by their reaction, a majority of the audience members.

Unfamiliar with many US politicians, I was nonetheless amazed at the litany of closeted, conservative homos who have consistently backed movements to deny gay-friendly bills including the right to adoption and marriage, employment protection, anti hate crime legislation, and public funding for AIDS research. Outed politicians include Larry Craig, an Idaho senator who was caught cruising in a public restroom; Charlie Crist, twice-married governor of Florida and potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012; Ed Koch, former mayor of NYC; and Jim McCrery, a Louisiana-based politician. As one outspoken critic said about Washington, DC: "You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a gay staffer."

Instead of simply resorting to a facile demonization of these loathsome legislators (which, in fairness, would have been easy to do and probably quite fun to watch), Dick chooses instead to take a more intelligent and complex approach, exploring the larger societal issues that keep certain politicians jammed tightly in the closet. Dick opens his film by exploring the political climate in Idaho, circa 1955, when Larry Craig was growing up: a public sex scandal involving gay men and youth triggered newspaper headlines that read "Crush the monster!". Indeed, in an environment like that, who would want to be openly gay? Dick also spends a lot of time interviewing James McGreevey, a former NJ governor (and first/only openly gay governor in US history) who resigned upon the revelation that he had had an extramarital affair with another man, a liaison that subsequently led to McGreevey's divorce. A highly sympathetic and admirable figure in Dick's film, McGreevey explains how, as a child who knew he was gay, he would spend time researching homosexuality at the library, internalizing the messages of shame and hate that he would uncover. Eventually, he realized that his attitude towards his own sexuality was so shameful and unhealthy because gays were being denied the right to be open with their sexuality in shameless, healthy, and public ways. Although the hypocrisy of these politicians is deplorable, Dick makes the valid point that the social conditions that permit and encourage this hypocrisy are at the root of this insidious, dangerous homophobia.

Another interesting figure is Michael Rogers, a blogger who dedicates himself to aggressively and publicly outing closeted conservative politicians. He serves as the thread that connects many of these individual stories, and a fascinating point of discussion: although it's satisfying to see hypocrites exposed for who they are, does this end justify his invasive and aggressive means? At what point do Rogers' methods become as harmful as the anti-gay laws backed by these politicians, if at all? I found myself intrigued if occasionally ambivalent.

Although Outrage is perhaps not extraordinarily shocking or radical by Canadian standards, I hope this film causes a stir south of the border. The only other film of Dick's I had seen is the fascinating/disturbing/eye-opening Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (which warrants a gander if you have the stomach to handle, as the title suggests, extreme masoschism .. and I mean nailing-your-junk-to-a-wooden-board extreme), and with Outrage Dick again proves himself an accessible and engaging storyteller. Aside from succeeding as the "searing indictment" it claims to be, Dick's film provides inspiring soundbites from important figures in queer history, like Larry Kramer, founder of ACT Up, who suggests that "Activism is about anger. Activism is about responding to something you know is wrong, and you don't like it." Harvey Milk makes an appropriate appearance close to the end of the film, minutes after we are reminded by a contemporary activist that "the most important thing a gay person can do in terms of social justice is just be out." His words ring very true, especially as Dick's film moves to a close.

Watch the trailer, see the film, talk about it.