Anti-Gay Congressman Attends Pro-Gay Event After Walking In Wrong Door
A Republican congressman from Texas who is an ardent defender of the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act found himself inadvertently supporting gay rights at an LGBT event after he entered the wrong door.
Rep. Ralph Hall, who, at 90, is both the oldest serving member of Congress and the oldest person ever to serve in the House of Representatives, was supposed to attend a Capitol Hill reception hosted by a fellow lawmaker, but accidentally walked into the wrong room and found himself in the midst of some very confused members of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.
Before Hall realized what was going on, he had already spent a considerable amount of time schmoozing with the enemy.
He eventually inquired where his congressman friend was, at which point he was informed of his mistake.
"At that moment I realized that this was not the reception I intended to attend, and I put down my glass, thanked the sponsor, and told him we would be leaving," Hall later said. "Many of those in attendance probably were surprised to see me walk in, but were not surprised to see me leave quickly."
Some had already ventured a guess that Hall, who co-sponsored a House bill that would prohibit federal courts from calling the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, was indeed lost.
But maybe, just maybe, in those precious few minutes he spent on the other side, he perhaps found some heart.
