On the Web site www.blogactive.com, there is a list, formed by blogger Mike Rodgers, of around 30 politicians and government officials that he has outed, not for being “gay,” but for being hypocrites.

Rodgers has made it his mission to publicly out politicians who are against gay rights in their “public lives” but engage in sex acts with men in their private lives. As a political weapon, the effects have been potent, but ethically, Rodgers’ tactics are questionable.

Rodgers has been known on the Hill since July of 2004, when his blog became active and he started naming names. Recently, his blog has been getting more attention as politicians he has outed in the past, such as Florida Representative Mark Foley and Idaho Senator Larry Craig, have been implicated several months later in mainstream media scandals.

Rodgers put Mark Foley’s name on the list in 2005, months before the sexually explicit text messages he sent to male congressional pages were made public. Foley had a mixed record on gay issues although he had voted against adoption by same-sex couples.

“When (public officials’) private lives are in direct conflict with the public policy that these officials espouse, I think its fair game that their private lives be brought into this,” said Rodgers in a recent interview with the Washington Post.

For an overwhelmingly left-wing campus, the appeal of Rodgers’ tactics is obvious.

The predominantly Republican opposition to gay rights issues excludes a significant portion of our population from the rights afforded to everyone else. Moreover, taking politicians to task for not practicing what they preach is a very appealing idea.

But this isn’t an issue of greed, corruption, or war-mongering. These men (most people on the list are men) are in an awkward position – stuck between same-sex desire and a political stance that trades on a less-than-favorable attitude towards that desire. Outing them publicly is effectively destroying another human being’s career for political gain.

This happened to Dan Gurley, an ex-official in the GOP, who Rodgers outed in 2004 for approving a GOP flier showing one man proposing to another, in what Rodgers called a scare tactic designed to intimidate Republican voters into voting against gay marriage. Gurley denies that he was responsible for the flier. Gurley was fired from the GOP soon after Rodgers’ blogging.

“What was I supposed to do?” said Gurley said in an interview quoted by the Washington Post. “What gives (Mike Rodgers) the right to bully people around and tell us what to think or how to conduct our lives?”

Same-sex desire is an incredibly complex issue in our society. This is true no matter your job or your political stance, no matter what you identify as – or if you choose to identify at all. It is a very sensitive issue, particularly for those directly involved, which is why trading on that desire as a political tool is problematic.

These men may or may not identify as gay in their private lives, but “outing” them to the public is essentially forcing a label upon them that is not necessarily how they think of themselves. Identifying as “gay” is a choice they should be allowed to make, on their own.

It is easy to stigmatize those we disagree with. The GOP ditches these guys because they see them as part of a monolithic notion of “homosexuality.” Rodgers attempts to disgrace them for not accepting who they are, and thus claims them for another monolithic idea of being either gay or straight. Neither are in the right. It is up to these men to name themselves and to live their lives how they want to live them.