At a public forum
to address hate crimes in New Bedford, Mass., on
Tuesday, councilman Joe DeMedeiros said he had long
struggled with whether to tell the public he is gay,
reports the local Standard-Times. He had told some
friends and colleagues, but he'd never told the world
until now.
"I didn't walk
into the room expecting to do it," DeMedeiros told the
paper. "After hearing what people had said, I felt this
responsibility and obligation to do what I did."
The meeting was
organized in the aftermath of the February 1 attack on
three patrons at the local gay bar Puzzles Lounge by Jacob
Robida, who later killed himself. In his comments,
DeMedeiros told the crowd that for a politician,
community leader, and a gay man to stand aside and say
nothing at the forum would have been dishonest. Still, it
took him "about 18 tries" to muster the courage to
speak, he said. "It's a huge risk," he said. "I'd be
lying if I didn't say I was nervous about the
reaction."
DeMedeiros, 29,
is the director of alumni relations at the University of
Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and is in his third two-year term
on the council, having served one of those years as
council president. When asked if he thought his
announcement would hurt his political future,
DeMedeiros chose his words carefully. "If I said I did, I
would be revealing a very poor opinion of the people
of New Bedford, one that's just not accurate," he
said.
Gay congressman
Barney Frank said he is proud of DeMedeiros. "When I
spoke to him, the first thing I did was tease him, saying I
thought this was a ploy because he wants to run for
Congress," said Frank. "It's not anything that's fun
to do, sharing with people intimate things about
himself, but it's important and unimportant at the same
time. It's something important for him to be honest with
people, but it doesn't affect how he does his job."
(The Advocate)
