Original title: Izzy or Izn’t he? Rush and Malloy call out Bush appointee for hiding his male lover
I thought the days of private early morning/late night tours (complete with photo ops with White House staff) were as old as the gay-boy party scene that David Dreier was a part of in the 1980’s.
My bad.
Apparently, if you have the right friends in the White House AND you’re connected to PIMagazine.com (the Journal of Professional Investigators), the tour is a perk that can be arranged.
All you need to do is call up gay man Israel Hernandez, former right hand man to Karl Rove and now a Bush nominee for assistant secretary of commerce.
The NY Daily News’ Rush & Malloy column chats about the nominee’s hearing, during which most of the room was referred to. Izzy went so far as to intro mom, dad and sister. Where’s the long-term boyfriend people wondered.
From Friday’s Daily News:
President Bush isn’t letting potential howls from the Christian right stop him from nominating an openly gay man as assistant secretary of commerce.
Just in time for Pride Week, Bush has tapped longtime aide Israel Hernandez for the post, which also carries the title of director general of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.
I spoke with the New York Daily News and share my dismay at the absence of this man’s partner from the confirmation hearings. (Note I said “dismay”, not “surprise.):
Mike Rogers, whose blogactive.com covers gay political issues, was disappointed that Hernandez didn’t mention his partner.
“You know, if he were married to a woman and she was there, he would specifically mention her,” Rogers told us. “Why are people like Izzy Hernandez pushing their spouses and loved ones into the closet when so many have gone before him and stood openly and proudly? This is typical of the Bush administration and its anti-gay, anti-safe-sex agenda.”
In what seems to be a running theme with the media (well at least those of us that call the White House to talk with gay appointees), the News says: “Hernandez didn’t return calls.”
Hmmmmm….No wonder the President’s other recent appointee hasn’t returned my calls to his office.
