Next Tuesday evening PBS is going to air a program called " A Hidden Life" the story of former Spokane Mayor Jim West, his rise to power from State Legislator to Mayor of Spokane. Last year while the controversy around him was swirling, PBS was in town putting togther the story of Mr. West, who as it turns out was the frontrunner of the current crop of anti-gay gay Republicans. It should be very interesting to say the least.

I remember you posting about how Frontline was filming the show last year. Here's the PBS weblink for the program:

A Hidden Life

On May 5, 2005, the residents of Spokane, Washington, awoke to one of the strangest headlines in the town's history: "West Tied to Sex Abuse in '70s, Using Office to Lure Young Men." The popular, socially conservative Republican mayor of Spokane, Jim West, had been outed by the town's newspaper The Spokesman-Review. The paper told the sordid story of a man with two lives: in public, he had once sponsored legislation forbidding gays from teaching in public schools, while in private, the paper alleged, he was trawling for young men online, using the trappings of his office to lure them into sexual relationships.

I thought I would bump this up, because tonight the program is being aired on PBS. Jim West was the frontrunner of all the gay scandals within the GOP, and I am really looking forward to this look at the whole story from people from outside of the Spokane area, and their thoughts and insights.

Terrific program. It humanized Mayor West and I was able to understand and feel sympathy for him. Sympathy which I didn't have before. It also revealed the shady tactics of the Spokesman-Review who set West up. When they called him into their office and interrogated him like they were the FBI... I thought, the nerve!

Editor & Publisher covers the program from the perspective of the newspaper's actions. E&P found only one reviewer who withheld a stinging rebuke of the newspaper.

Boston Globe: "Frontline"'s "A Hidden Life," which airs tomorrow night , will haunt you for the gray it finds beneath the black and white of life.

NY Times:... “A Hidden Life” ends in sync with Mr. West himself as the victim of a contemporary line of Kafkaesque persecution and in the end an almost wholly sympathetic figure.

Seattle Times

This was really tough to watch again. From all angles and perspectives, and it was very interesting getting the read on this from people outside of the Spokane area. I must tell you though, I don't think the overall portrayl of gay life in Spokane was positive. Some things have changed and some things have not. Its still a conservative city overall, but there is alot of growth going on in the area now, and people from the much bigger cities are moving in, and bring their (usually) much more open minds in alot of things. Its not Seattle for sure, but I think there are places in the US where it would be even harder to be a (gay) minority. And back in the mid 90's the city has enacted a non-discrimination clause in its hiring and housing practices, so we have become somewhat enlightened. While I had sympathy for Jim West, this was often times contradicted by a strong sense of anger, which came from the fact that in his professional life, when presented opportunites to better his community, and his cities gay community he usually turned them down, and I was struck by the question asked late in the program when asked if he would have voted any differently on any so called gay rights legislation he was dealing with, that he most likely would not have voted any differently. (always against). Brought back alot of mixed emotions.

I watched it, and was empathetic to Jim..........but at the same time, sad he had to live his live in the closet.

T

One of the producers did a Q&A with the WashingtonPost.com today.

I've read extensively from the Frontline website (interviews with all the principals, comments from viewers and media) and the Q&A on the Washington Post.com, and I agree that the Spokesman-Review, it's editor and reporter were did greater harm than good. They were greater wrong-doers than West, whose life they destroyed after tarnishing him with pedophilia, "trolling," abuse of power, etc. on flimsy evidence and a set-up.

And it's interesting that he found more support in an African-American Christian church than he found in the gay community, who should know better the conflict and anguish West went through. He had his flaws, but they are understandable ones, caused by homophobia (internal and external), lonliness and the product of living a double life. He committed no crimes, yet was tarred with the taint of pedophilia and predatory sexuality, and his every action would be tainted by that brush even if benign.

As the gay school teacher said, because he's now openly gay he's *stopped* participating in the Year Book club, and would never consider going on out-of-town trips with kids, things he did when he was in the closet. Why? Because he's afraid of being too close to kids, afraid to excel in his job for fear that his benign--indeed noble--work would be mis-construed as sexual. And I think that's a sad statement, that when openly gay we willingly handcuff ourselves because of society and our fear of the perception society has of our actions.

West could never defend himself because everything he did (or had done, such as being a scout leader) was tainted. His reputation was ruined. His life shattered. It's a very sad story.

I saw the program last night and was impressed - West was far less of a monster than I had thought. Nonetheless, I really don't have a problem with the way the newspaper handled the story. A public chat room on gay.com, even though it feels anonymous, is still public. Had the newspaper gotten a tip that the mayor was trolling some seedy red light district for rent boys and went and photographed him, it would have been considered legitimate news. I don't really see a difference.

And the newspaper made it clear that they did not consider it a story until they learned West had offered the trappings of his office to his on-line friend, and later we find he also did it with real-life people, if not in exchange for sex, at least in the hopes of getting a little. I was most impressed, for instance, with the young man who had been named to a non-paying commission job, and realized only after the fact that West only named him because he was cute and West wanted to meet him. Not only does that create questions about the young man's character, should anyone learn the real reason for his being named to the commission, it is a smarmy, casting-couch trick that is beneath any public official. Whether it rises to the level of illegality or not, there is a clear ethical breach, and that is certainly a legitimate news story. And quite frankly, during the interview with the paper, the way West clearly stated that he'd offered an "unpaid internship," showed me, at least, that he knew exactly what he was doing and how he was skirting the edges of the law.

What I wished Frontline had explored more is the idea that it would have been a legitimate news story just to out the guy. Given his past record, which he downplayed (aside: I HATE it when anti-gay politicians argue they are just voting the way their constituents want - have they never heard of the word "leadership"?), the fact that he was trolling on gay.com was completely legitimate in and of itself. When you have sponsored onerous legislation that would have cost gay and lesbian teachers their jobs (and I am glad Frontline interviewed the one teacher who acknowledged lying about his orientation out of fear), and basically argued that gays and lesbians were untrustworthy around young people, your abilities as a mayor - assuming you're Jim West - are completely open to question as well. If gays and lesbians are unfit for teaching jobs, how could they ever be fit for mayoral office?

In the end, though, the piece showed once again the tragedy of the closet and how it drives people to unethical and dangerous behavior. I remember just after 9/11, when Nightline did its series on gay life in America, they focused at one point on a former Virginia DA who prosecuted men who were caught cruising for sex in parks and rest stops, while crusing them himself. The DA, who had by then come out, talked about how society had shut down every avenue for gay people to meet and find one another, and then blamed them when they turned to places like parks and rest stops. The DA said something like "don't push gay men into a dark corner and then blame them for being in the dark." Not that West was not responsible for his activities, but I can understand the self-loathing and shame that led to these kinds of behaviors.

I watched that on PBS this Tuesay. I might have felt sorry for the sob if it hadn't come out that he is a pedophile who molested boys. Pedophiles are sick and should be executed. Eye for an eye I say. Stinking pedophile pondscum.