Talk:List of LGBT members of the United States Congress

Recent revert

I've reverted a recent edit by TrumpErmNo, as this specifies it is a list of openly lgbt individuals, and not individuals who were outted and who, despite sex acts, committed or alleged, may not identify as lgbt. Having said this, Barbara Jordan should probably be removed as notes state she was never open, and McKinney and Gunderson should probably get the same treatment. TimothyJosephWood 21:25, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Timothyjosephwood Someone has removed B. Jordan already and I agree that McKinney should also be removed, since he didn't come out publicly. You should read the cite for Gunderson. Although he was "outed" in 1996, the source quotes him commenting about being gay in a 2004 article, so IMO, he is speaking publicly about his orientation now ( for the past @12 years). Thanks for keeping an eye on a sensitive article. Tribe of Tiger (talk) 06:41, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Added another for Gunderson. Rem McKinney. Added source for Hinson and rem cn. TimothyJosephWood 12:50, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Wofford self ID issue

Well this is a bit awkward. Per the source written by Wofford:

"Too often, our society seeks to label people by pinning them on the wall - straight, gay or in between. I don't categorize myself based on the gender of those I love. I had a half-century of marriage with a wonderful woman, and now am lucky for a second time to have found happiness."

So...having him on the list may be the strangest case of WP:OR I've ever seen. TimothyJosephWood 14:56, 7 May 2016 (UTC) (I've posted on Wikipedia:WikiProject LGBT studies requesting input.) TimothyJosephWood 15:29, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Agreed; assigning an LGBT category to someone who is quoted as specifically rejecting sexual orientation labels should not be encouraged on Wikipedia. Funcrunch (talk) 16:55, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I think listed as he currently is, "plans to marry a man," is good enough. There are other people in the list that don't have a traditional label listed, such as "First 'out' non-white LGBT person to be elected to Congress" and the incredibly vague "Came out in 2013." People can follow the sources or look at the biographical article if they want the details about a person's gender or sexuality if it is impossible to describe well in a sentence or two. ~Mable (chat) 08:32, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

More than two years on, and we are still seeing disagreement over this passage. Earlier this month, I edited his description to remove the phrase "came out," and instead described his self-reported history of relationships with a woman and a man. It was edited later on to the much shorter statement that he announced plans to marry a man. But then, shortly after that, it was edited again to again describe him as "coming out." That is needlessly vague. He "came out" as what? "Coming out" means nothing if you don't say what he "came out" as. And Wofford has not "come out" as anything. But he has announced that he is in a romantic relationship with a man. The article was later edited further to state, patently falsely, that Wofford has "come out as bisexual." Unless there is a source in which he does so, we only have the currently cited source, authored by Wofford himself, where he empirically, verifiably, does not do any such thing as "come out as bisexual." I have re-edited the article to use the succinct language previously authored by an editor other than myself, "Announced plans to marry a man in 2016" --DavidK93 (talk) 03:51, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

Cory Booker

Is an openly gay senator from New Jersey. I do not have his photo — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.56.248.72 (talk) 20:52, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

See Cory Booker#Personal life. Not openly gay. IgnorantArmies (talk) 04:42, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

Sex scandals

New section added on page. These people never came out, and never ran after acknowledging homosexual behaviors. So, discuss: does the section warrant inclusion? Kingsif (talk) 17:24, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

pinging @Therequiembellishere:, the only editor of the section. Probably interested, might want to drop an explanation here. (Note: please don't be rude, I'm not saying it should be removed, I'm asking why it's been added) Kingsif (talk) 22:04, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

• This section is inappropriate and unnecessary. A sentence directing readers to the further information link may be relevant but this does not belong here like this. Why would you include all the descriptive prose when the actual people this list is about just get basic table info? Lumping them in with out/verified individuals due to in some cases possible single incidents (bicuriosity?) is not the purpose of this article. If you think any of them should be list in the article, then propose new criteria for the tables or why those who deny being LGBT should be here. Even if they were liars or deeply closeted, this is not the place for that. Reywas92^Talk 08:55, 25 January 2019 (UTC)

Former members "who have come out"

@Kss5pj: two of the four former members (i.e. half) listed in this section were outed in an obituary and were never openly gay in life, therefore it is incorrect to say that they "came out". There should either be a more neutral way of titling the section or split it into two. Nevermore27 (talk) 03:56, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

Agreed - just want to make sure we're not giving editors a license to out living people who haven't done so themselves. I think a separate category for posthumous recognition of their sexuality, by loved ones at least (as in a family obituary), like the way you did it makes sense. Kss5pj (talk) 19:47, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

John Kerry

Should be included on the list being a remember of Skull & Bones, where it is commonly known that as part of the initiation ritual of that secret college society, initiates must perform a "homosexual act" which is then used as the means to swear all to secrecy.

This would make John Kerry technically 'bi-sexual'. Same true for G.W. Bush, who is also a 'bonesman'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:8000:5B02:703C:4972:6015:729F:525E (talk) 22:27, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Er, no. Kingsif (talk) 13:00, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

Even if it could be proven that Kerry "perform[ed] a homosexual act", that doesn't make him gay or bisexual. Nevermore27 (talk) 03:53, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Barbara Jordan

I removed Barbara Jordan from the list. I don't think the cited source (http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/aa-history-month-bios/barbara-jordan) is reliable, and her Wikipedia page shows some ambiguity on this point. Amandil21 (talk) 20:59, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

Mistake

Can someone please revert my mistake? I (very stupidly) changed something on the Michael Huffington profile. There is now no cross. I sincerely apologise! Can someone please fix it - I don’t know how. A Sapient Llama (talk) 19:56, 11 July 2022 (UTC)

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Larry Craig

Ok so ik this was long ago, but he was kinda outed trying to have intimate relations with a man in Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport Melofy (talk) 16:24, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

"Craig was vehemently adamant that he was not homosexual, stating "I am not gay. I never have been gay."" Doesn't seem to fit. Glman99 (talk) 16:52, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

While he said that, he was arrested and plead guilty to lewd conduct in Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport after cottaging. Melofy (talk) 18:50, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

This does not qualify him for this page though. While some of those on the page were outed due to arrest or scandal, they all came out as gay or bisexual afterwards. Larry Craig maintains he is not gay, and there are no sources to back up that being his identity. Glman99 (talk) 13:52, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

References