Who is Kevin Jennings? Who Cares, He's Gay! Get Him!

Image from Seattle Gay News

When I started hearing the name Kevin Jennings, at first I thought, "Who? That guy who won on Jeopardy!?" No, not that guy. Right-wing world, all heady with their take down of a couple of Obama Administration appointees (like Van Jones), has their guns loaded for Jennings, an "education czar," who is also gay. Now they can't just hit him for the gay thing, too blunt, too obvious. No, they have to tie him to NAMBLA, the North American Man/Boy Love Association, a deplorable group to be sure.

As a gay person myself, mentions of NAMBLA usually will give me a simultaneous stomach cramp and an eye roll. I'm sick to death of the conflation of gays with pedophiles. The two things just ain't the same. In fact, I've often wondered if the group even exists in any meaningful way. Yes, there is an organization with this name. But how big is it really, how cohesive? I think you'll understand that I'm less than enthusiastic about the prospect of investigating. Who wants that kind of history trail on their computer? Yikes.

But the bigger question in this case is whether or not it is true that Jennings is somehow involved with them. And it turns out, investigating that question is easier to do. Incidentally, the real reason they're going after this guy, is that he's in education and he's gay. And whether Sean Hannity and the rest really believe that sort of combo is a problem or not, they know that their followers do. So they are cravenly going after this guy for ratings. Simple as that.

[Excerpt]

Smears of "sick and immoral" "pervert" Jennings: the worst of the worst

In recent weeks, the right-wing media have embarked on a witch hunt against Department of Education official Kevin Jennings, often advancing the repeatedly debunked falsehood that Jennings failed to report or even encouraged a 15-year-old student's relationship with an adult or the baseless smear that Jennings has "advocate[d]" for the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). Media Matters for America has compiled some of the most egregious attacks on Jennings that conservative media figures have made based on these smears, including calling Jennings "sick and immoral," a "pervert," someone who "facilitated" statutory rape, and "a zealous advocate of NAMBLA. . ."

Read more at: Media Matters