Little did I know that J. Edgard Hoover was gay

[Winnscott]

Did you?

From Salon.com:

"J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI chief, and his longtime companion, Clyde Tolson, were an ambiguously gay crime-fighting duo. Inseparable for 44 years, 1928-1972, the two top G-men vacationed together, often dressed similarly and continue their cohabitation even after death. They're buried alongside one another."

I was dumbfounded by this tidbit.

Let's not forget that Hoover was a conservative who spied on minorities and rejected civil rights.
Typical two-faced conservative:

http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/world/2000/01/05/hoover/

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. many will be speechless!

[Winnscott]

2. It's a 2000 article, but I had never read it elsewhere

I wonder if this has been reported in mainstream outlets.

[nancyr]

3. It's been a well-known fact for many years.

I thought everyone knew it. Where in the world have you been????

[babylonsister]

4. I've known for years. But think about it. No TV news at all then,

and the newspapers didn't much expose scandals for a long time.

It was an open secret that FDR was crippled; that didn't make the news either.

[drm604]

9. I'm pretty sure there was TV news.

He was FBI director until 1972. There was TV news then. No one talked about him and Colson on it, but their was definitely TV news.

[babylonsister]

17. Gosh, that late? Ugh. I didn't know.

My first thought was Kennedy and his affairs; it did happen, was never talked about. Maybe that was tit for tat with Hoover? Just imagine the stories we don't know about!

[drm604]

33. Absolutely that late.

Hoover was in during the Vietnam war and investigated anti-war groups. He also investigated and attempted to smear MLK.

[elleng]

28. Anyone KNOW about

keeping things confidential in those days, and prices paid by those who 'crossed' hoover? No surprise to me if few still know.

[LeftyMom]

5. He was fond of cross-dressing too.

I thought everybody knew that.

[lonestarnot]

6. What the hell?

:rofl: rock much?

[madeline_con]

7. I thought it was just cross dressing.

oh, well.

[riverwalker]

8. He liked chiffon

whenever I hear "J. Edgar Hoover" I think of pink chiffon. Story broke a long time ago, I think it was in a book.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. "an ambiguously gay crime-fighting duo"

HEY! I thought that was Batman and Robin!!!

I had heard something about this a while back. I am sure it is not totally public knowledge...especially among
the true believers.

[Waiting For Everyman]

11. OMG, I thought everybody knew that!

I guess younger people wouldn't though. That's funny.

[Wapsie B]

12. Yes I did and John Wayne was a close personal friend.

Welcome to DU!

[Octafish]

13. He had a sort of understanding with Allen Dulles of the CIA.

Know your BFEE: Corrupt Craftsmen Hoover and Dulles

PS: A hearty welcome to DU, Winnscott! Interesting times these traitors left us, wot?

[Winnscott]

15. He was good at withholding things

Such as the truth about the JFK plot.

[Tutonic]

14. Hoover, Roy Cohn. Two tragic figures.

Hoover spied on the Kennedy brothers, MLK and Panthers amongst others. Kennedy's kept him in check because of his secret. Log cabin--abusive and insulitng to gays yet flaming behind the scenes. Sad.

[WillowTree]

16. Common knowledge for 20 years or more.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. It was common knowledge among the gay men I knew in grad school

in the 1970s.

[ddeclue]

19. Ummm... duh???

Who didn't know that?

That was been out there at least 15 to 20 years. He was a gay cross dressing racist paranoid power hungry spying blackmailing nut job. Did I miss anything?

Doug D.

[Ken in SF]

20. Way old news

Yeah, Eddie was a homo, and not one that we are particularly proud to claim. A cross-dresser too.

Special corner of hell for him and Roy Cohn

[Tutonic]

21. fat ass Jerry Falwell will be waiting there for them...I'm just sayin.

[Beregond2]

22. You're kidding, right? Everyone knows that.

[Bluebear]

23. What on earth led you to an article from Jan. 5, 2000?

[Doc_Technical]

24. Check out the movie "Naked Gun: from the files of Police Squad"

There is a scene of items on the squadroom wall, one of which
is titled "J. Edgar Hoover", and it has (I think) garter belts
and other female paraphernalia on it.

The Story going around was that Organized Crime had photos of
J. Edgar and his "Companion" in flagrante delicto and The Mob
used this as blackmale so the FBI stayed away from organized
crime and went (mostly) against individual criminals.

[upi402]

25. Cons are so perverted and twisted that even farm animals are nervous

now THAT was a news story!

[sweetroxie]

26. I've known about it forever

[L. Coyote]

27. Yes, he wore a tie that said "ambiguously gay"

He was unambiguously in violation of people's rights.
But, we did not spy on him, hence "ambiguously" gay, not that we know what that is! :rofl:

[Blue_In_AK]

29. I've known it about as long as I can remember. n/t

[neomonkey]

30. Oh yeah, he a nd Clyde Tolson

were inseparable. JEH was never married, lived with his mother until she died...if I recall, Clyde Tolson quickly destroyed all of Hoover's personal paperwork upon his death, and when Tolson died, government agents swept in and cleaned out anything left behind by the 2.

[JackRiddler]

31. It's okay, he didn't really know it himself.

[Lil Missy]

32. That has been a well known fact and common knowledge for years.

[Imagevision]

34. Hey, didn't Bush or Rove have a fling with that dude Jeff Gannon?