Lane Hudson
Lane Hudson is a former campaign worker for the United States Democratic Party and a liberal blogger who exposed the Mark Foley scandal.
Hudson was profiled in Time magazine's December 13, 2006 issue.[1]
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[edit] Early life
A lifelong Democrat, Hudson was born in Darlington, South Carolina and grew up in neighboring Hartsville. After high school in Myrtle Beach, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston. He worked for a number of political campaigns including that of John Kerry. In 1995, he met Mark Foley at a Capitol Hill bar, where Foley attempted to pick him up.[1]
[edit] Stop Sex Predators
In July 2006, Hudson anonymously launched a blog called "Stop Sex Predators." His intention, as he stated on his blog, was "to serve as a clearing house for the public to report sex predators and as a resource for concerned parents and citizens."[2] Beginning in August, he started posting about Congressmen rumored to have sex affairs with congressional pages, and solicited tips and e-mails.[3] On 24 September 2006 he posted photocopied e-mails from Mark Foley to a 16-year-old page.[4] The political blog Wonkette expressed skepticism about Hudson's post,[5] and users of the website Daily Kos suspected the post to be a hoax,[6] but on September 28, ABC News' Brian Ross confirmed the existence of the e-mails,[7] which he had received in August but not previously reported on.[8]
When Hudson's identity was revealed, he was fired from his job at Human Rights Campaign.[9] Hudson joked that despite the fact that he simply told the truth, he was the only person in Washington fired over Mark Foley's exploits.[1] Stop Sex Predators ceased updates after Hudson was fired.
[edit] Independent blogging
After losing his job, Hudson became an independent blogger. He started a blog called News for the Left and also began writing for the liberal Huffington Post.
[edit] Fred Thompson complaint
On August 20, 2007, Hudson filed a complaint with the FEC regarding Fred Thompson. The complaint alleged that Thompson had violated the "testing the waters" clause of FEC law, essentially by acting as a de facto candidate without formally declaring himself as one.[10] In response to the complaint the FEC has issued the following statement. "The FEC will now give Thompson 15 days to respond to the complaint. Following Thompson's response, election commissioners will decide whether to dismiss the case or investigate further." In Thompson's defense, "[Thompson] has not said definitively that he's a candidate for president. He is expected to make an announcement around Labor Day."[11] Under current regulations he can only use the money to "test the waters".
[edit] Faith in America
In February 2008, Hudson accepted the position of Director of Communications and Strategy for Faith in America.[12] The organization, which was founded by furniture designer and philanthropist, Mitchell Gold, seeks to end the use of religion to justify prejudice against gay Americans. Faith in America's message connects the dots of history to highlight when misguided religious teaching was once used to justify slavery, denying women full and equal rights, to justify segregation, and to deny people of different races to marry. Today, it is the gay and lesbian community that is experiencing the kind of discrimination we have seen throughout history.
[edit] Brunswick Group
In January 2009, Hudson accepted the position of Director at the Brunswick Group, LLC, a global communications firm based in London, England. At Brunswick, Hudson leads the effort to integrate new media strategy into the overall practice of the firm. In addition, he provides client services in the areas of public affairs, reputation management, crisis communication, and corporate responsibility.
[edit] Dallas Principles
Hudson was a co-author of the Dallas Principles.[13]
[edit] Interrupts President Clinton's Keynote Speech at the 2009 Netroots Nation
On August 13, 2009, at the Netroots nation annual convention, Hudson interrupted a speech by former President Clinton to confront him about his administration's policy regarding gays serving in the military. (The Don't ask - Don't tell policy) The video of this confrontation was posted by the blog firedoglake on youtube and Clinton's verbal take down of Lane has been circulated throughout the political blogosphere. In the January 5. 2010 edition of the daily beast, Tina Brown wrote in a column lamenting Obama's low key style, noting that she had been "Cruising on YouTube the other day, and caught a clip from Netroots Nation in August in which Bill Clinton was challenged about not doing enough in office for gays with his "don't ask, don't tell" cop-out. The way the former president engaged with his humbled heckler was the ultimate contrast: an astonishing, fact-crammed, passion-fuelled, eye-blazing defense of his own record that was especially startling (and, yes, invigorating) after a year of Obama's judiciously crafted stemwinders."
On 8/14/2009, Lane Hudson wrote a blogpost for Huffington Post about this incident, defending his interruption or the President's keynote speech. Hudson wrote: " So, at the point that he said, "We need an honest, principled debate", I knew I had to try to stimulate the discussion. So, I stood and said, "Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Right now?" The immediate response shocked me at the time and still does. Those surrounding me yelled at me, booed, and told me to sit down. One elderly lady even told me to leave. While I was among the supposed most progressive audience in the country, they sought to silence someone asking a former President to speak out on behalf of repealing two laws that TOOK AWAY RIGHTS OF A MINORITY. I was shocked."
Most of the comments to the blog were critical of Lane, many referring to his "rudeness" and ill mannered "heckling" of the former President.
On October 25. 2009, Advocate.com reported that Hudson told them that President Clinton had sent him a personal letter.
From the Advocate: "Hudson took some heat for shouting uninvited questions at a former president from the crowd and, accordingly, wrote an apology letter to Clinton that he published on The Huffington Post.
To Hudson’s surprise, he received a handwritten note from Clinton this week. Although he did not want to betray the confidence of the former president by publishing the entirety of its contents, Hudson did share several lines.
“I recently said I had changed my position on gay marriage and will look for more opportunities to advance the repeal of DOMA,” Clinton wrote, adding, “I will be there as you ask on these and other human rights issues.”
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Time. "Lane Hudson". 16 December 2006
- ^ Stop Sex Predators. "Make the World Safer for our Kids". 28 July 2006.
- ^ Stop Sex Predators. "CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION!!!". 24 August 2006.
- ^ Stop Sex Predators. "Emails from Congressman Foley to 16 Year Old Page!!!!". 24 September 2006
- ^ Wonkette. "Underaged Gay Sex Scandal!". 27 September 2006
- ^ Daily Kos. "Congressman Mark Foley Emails to Intern". 24 September 2006
- ^ ABC News. "Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman". 28 September 2006
- ^ New York Times. "Papers Knew of Foley E-Mail But Did Not Publish Articles". 3 October 2006
- ^ New York Times. "Rights Group Fires Publisher of Foley E-Mail". 26 October 2006.
- ^ News For The Left. "FEC Complaint filed against Fred Thompson". 20 August 2007
- ^ Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press. "Thompson Faces Election Complaint". 21 August 2007
- ^ [1]
- ^ Dallas Principles website
[edit] External links
- Stop Sex Predators, Hudson's anonymous blog (no longer updated)
- News For The Left, Hudson's more recent blog (no longer updated)
- Lane Hudson at the Huffington Post
