Congressman Forced To Disclose Homosexuality

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TUCSON, Arizona: Arizona Representative Jim Kolbe announced that he is homosexual, adding that he was forced into the admission by a gay magazine which was about to publish a story reporting his sexual orientation as retribution for his support of a federal bill rejecting same-sex marriages. Jeff Yarbrough, editor in chief of The Advocate, a national gay magazine, said it was hypocritical of Kolbe to live a "semi-open homosexual life" in Washington and then vote against a "pro-gay referendum." Kolbe said he was initially angry about being pressured to disclose the information, but told the Associated Press that having done so, he was relieved. The divorced Republican, who is running for a seventh term in Congress, said "That I am a gay person has never affected the way that I legislate. The fact that I am gay has never, nor will it ever, change my commitment to represent all the people of Arizona's 5th District." The bill explicitly defined marriage as the union of a man and woman and said that individual states were not required to honor marriages performed outside their borders. All three of the openly-gay House members -->