Top Gay Activist Blogger Posts First-Person Account by Congressional Page Who Says Foley's Advances Were Well-Known Among Pages

10/2/2006 6:00:00 AM

To: National Desk

Contact: Mike Rogers, 202-588-9446 or Susan Roth,
301-530-3539, 202-997-5672 (cell)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /U.S. Newswire / -- Mike Rogers,
the nation's top gay activist blogger, has posted on
his blog at http://www.proudofwhoweare.org excerpts
from an interview with a member of the class of
congressional pages who have been confirmed to have
been harassed by or stalked by former Congressman Mark
Foley (R-FL). Rogers is available for further comment
on the unfolding scandal.

The page confirms in the interview with Rogers that
there was widespread knowledge among pages of sexually
oriented instant message chats and emails between
Foley and a page, that the page interviewed had seen
the messages himself, and that they were "definitely
of a sexual nature."

The page tells Rogers that although young pages as
part of their orientation were instructed about
scandals of the past, and told the congressional page
program had been restructured to protect them, there
"was only so much that they could do," and male pages
still received a lot of attention from Foley.

Rogers has been on Foley's trail during the last two
weeks, assembling the email trail, working to
interview the two pages involved, and talking to
others in the same class of pages about Foley's
practice of showering personal attention on male
pages.

A year and a half ago, Rogers blogged on Foley's
conflicted position as a secretly gay man who was
voting and working against the gay community's
interests.

Rogers' work has been profiled in GQ magazine, on Fox
News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," and in
Saturday's Miami Herald ( see
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15643524.htm ).

For expert comment on why the latest congressional
page scandal developed; how it was covered up by
elected leaders of Congress including House Speaker
Dennis Hastert (R-IL), and the Republican campaign
chief, Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY); and how it should now
be dealt with, please contact Rogers at
mrogers@proudofwhoweare.org or 202-588-9446; or, Susan
Roth at prsue@rothpr.com , 301-530-3539, or
202-997-5672 cell.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

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