Remember Mark Foley, the guy who was in charge of a senate committee on prosecuting sexual predators and pedophiles, who was embroiled in his own scandal last year for soliciting sexual conversation with his teenage staffers?  He claimed that his problem was “alcoholism,” promptly resigned and disappeared into rehab.

Well, Newsweek reports that one year later he’s openly gay and living happily in a Florida mansion with his longtime partner.  He’s said to be considering a new career in real estate.  It’s a suitably happy ending, but it’s still such a shame that he was hounded his entire time in office.

Since he first ran, he was badgered constantly about whether or not he was gay–since he was–and he called the questions “Revolting and unforgivable.”  It’s not the being gay that was a  problem, it’s that he felt he had to repress his identity and lifestyle.  It’s easy to blame the fact that he was a Republican, but the Dems who ran against him were also big fans of the flames against him.   I’m glad he’s happy now, and I hope he’s decided to stick to men his own age.