Welcome to a special BlogActive Investigation by Mike Stark of Accountability Moments.
If nothing else, Virgil Goode is consistent. Since the 107th Congress (that's back to 2001) he has scored a zero every year on the Human Rights Campaign Legislative scorecard. (You almost have to TRY to do that!)
So, how does an anti-gay Republican US Congressman come to support a movie that is filled with lots of gay sex and lots of drug use? Well, the best place to start is with Linwood Duncan, Goode's Press Secretary. Linwood is gay (an open secret in DC) and has aspirations to be a movie star. In 2003, Ed Henry, then with Roll Call, reported about Linwood and his dreams of the silver screen:
Who knew that Linwood Duncan, the unassuming press secretary for Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.), has been dabbling in acting on the side and turns up with a bit part in the new movie "Eden's Curve"?***Duncan has played everyone from Sherlock Holmes to Sir Thomas More in dozens of shows in the D.C. and Charlottesville, Va., areas. He was approached by a longtime friend, Jerry Meadors, screenwriter and producer for "Eden's Curve."
You're thinking "what's the big deal?" Who cares if Roll Call wrote about a movie starring a right-wing Congressional staffer that was "especially popular at gay and lesbian film festivals across the country because the lead character gets mixed up in relationships with his male roommate..."?
I'll tell you who cares. The anti-earmark conservatives care and the anti-gay troglodytes care... A LOT!
You read it here first: After his press secretary got his first film acting break in a movie filled with gay sex and drug use, the conservative Republican Congressman moved an earmark for $150,000 to the very theater run by the movie's producer. And get this, the press secretary is on the board!
TAKE ACTION:
There are two steps to this BlogActive/Accountability Moments Action:
STEP ONE: Click HERE to send an email to the state legislators in and near Goode's House district and send them this story. Ask them to ask Virgil Goode the following questions:
1. What exactly are the personal relationships between Virgil Goode, Linwood Duncan and Jerry Meadors?
2. How was this earmark connected to Linwood Duncan's acting break?
3. How does Virgil Goode square his condemnation of gay and lesbian Americans while helping to make Eden's Curve?
4. How many other films exploring gay issues has Virgil Goode been involved with?
5. Can we gain access to the records that document how the $150,000 earmark was spent?
I wonder, just what did Virgil Goode do to land in the credits of a movie like Eden's Curve?
STEP 2: Please help us put a copy of this movie with -- printed background information -- in every pastor's mailbox in the district. Shouldn't the right wing, family values crowd know what Virgil Goode is up to? Shouldn't voters in Goode's district want these questions answered?
It's fast AND easy to help out with PayPal.
With just $4,000, we can make this happen. Help move the word and spread the message of Mike Stark, Accountability Moments and BlogActive.com.
Put this in their mail and watch them cry all the way to Election Day:
