As Gene Robinson was about to be elected the first openly gay Episcopalian bishop, a media flurry erupted, with last-minute allegations linking Robinson to porn websites and sexual harassment. It turns out the allegations were totally baseless. The "sexual harassment" was that Robinson had touched a straight man on the arm and upper back during a public meeting. The porn link was that Robinson helped found outright.org, a support group for queer youth. Five years later, an affiliate of outright.org had a link on their website to bisexual.org for info on bisexuality. Several clicks of web surfing and a Visa card would get one to the adult site. In other words, both charges were absurd, desperate attempts to derail the election of a gay bishop by smearing his good name.
Does the tactic sound familiar? Turns out that the story was pushed by Fred Barnes, Executive Editor of the Weekly Standard, and board member of the Olin, Scaife, and Bradley-funded Institute on Religion and Democracy, which is trying to fight feminist and gay advances in Protestant churches. They tried to use the anti-Clinton smear tactics to destroy Robinson. They failed miserably...this time.
