I have no idea whether long-time GOP consultant and the former mayor of our capital city, Tom Fetzer, is gay. Honestly, I don’t care if he is or not, but I do care that he thinks there is something wrong/bad/evil about being gay.
Fetzer, who wants to head up the flailing NC Republican Party (oh, that explains a LOT), has just filed a libel lawsuit against Wilmington radio show host Curtis Wright for forwarding an anonymous letter to NC GOP operatives that asserts Fetzer is a Friend of Dorothy. He also names WLTT (Wright’s employer), and its corporate owner, Sea-Comm Media. Ryan Teague Beckwith at the N&O’s Under the Dome received Fetzer’s homo denial letter (all emphasis mine):
Dear Republican Friend:
I apologize in advance for the content of this message, but as you can see, I had no other choice.
Tuesday, Curtis Wright, a radio and television talk show host in Wilmington, forwarded an anonymous letter alleging that I am gay to Republican leaders throughout North Carolina. The letter is a lie, written by a lying coward. I can’t sue the lying coward, but I have authorized my attorneys to sue Curtis Wright and the media outlets he works for.
You can click here to view a copy of the letter my attorney sent to Mr. Wright, WLTT, and Sea-Comm Media.
There are two things you need to know:
1) I am not gay - never have been - never will be. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support any of the scurrilous allegations made in the anonymous attack on me.
2) I will spare no cost or hardship in defending my good name. I intend to vigorously pursue legal action against any and all who spread these lies. The fact that I’m 54 and single does not mean I have to put up with vicious rumors that I’m gay. The fact that I am heterosexual is a matter of public record. The News & Observer once even reported (erroneously) that I had eloped.
OK. This letter is beyond strange—how does one’s heterosexuality become a matter of public record? I’m serious. Did he have sex with a woman in public? Are there photos of him with a female sex worker? Just declaring you are straight (or gay, for that matter) doesn’t mean that’s the case. Just because a person marries someone of the opposite sex doesn’t make it so either.
I mean look at all the closet cases out there we’ve seen on the Blend who are married and then get busted at a rest stop or…an airport bathroom? The fact of the matter is Larry Craig, for instance, said quite forcefully that he wasn’t gay—perhaps in his mind he just had sex with men. He’s completely heterosexual from his POV, as former pastor Ted Haggard famously declared after his “spiritual restoration” quick fix.
I have no idea what Fetzer’s private life is or isn’t, but he seems quite determined to outline and share his heterosexual future in this letter. Check it out after the jump.