Thread by @wrongformat

@tracybeanz @PressSec 1) I served as press secretary for Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) 1996-99. Arrived a few months before the radical gay left threatened to "out" Jim in a despicable attempt to blackmail him into voting "nay" re: Defense of Marriage Act. He was one of dozens of Reps & Sens targeted.

@tracybeanz @PressSec 2) Constitutuents had spoken: A similar measure, passed by an overwhelming majority in the Arizona Legislature that summer, was signed into law by the governor. The question was not which way Jim would vote, but how we'd deal with what activists warned me would inevitably follow.

@tracybeanz @PressSec 3) Sure enough, half an hour after the House voted, my phone rang: A writer from "The Advocate" wanted to talk with Jim about his reasons for voting "Aye." We didn't duck it. Rather, Jim invited the writer to come by the office on Capitol Hill first thing the following week.

@tracybeanz @PressSec 4) Jim declined to respond to personal questions, except to explain that such considerations wouldn't have influenced his vote on the DOMA bill, nor any other legislation. Nevertheless, it was clear that a story in the next issue of "The Advocate" would label Jim as a gay man.

@tracybeanz @PressSec 5) Perhaps I was naive, but I thought Jim's orientation was, as it ought to have been, a non-issue. After all, I'd spent a decade in LA, first as a reporter and later as a publicist. Jim was brilliant, comfortable in his own skin, and never one to hide his light under a bushel.

@tracybeanz @PressSec 6) My advice: Beat "The Advocate" to the punch. Make a statement. Tell our constituents exactly what happened, and that you absolutely and unequivocably refused to be blackmailed, by anyone, for any reason, ever.

Expressions of support poured in. Half a dozen nastygrams, tops.

@tracybeanz @PressSec @threadreaderapp unroll 1) I served as press secretary