Cross-Posted at: Enough is Enough VirginiaCross-Posted at: Enough is Enough Virginia
Today the Danville Register-Bee is running a story with the headline “Goode Linked to Gay Movie” about Virgil Goode’s ties to a 2003 movie called Eden’s Curve.
The movie, which is described as a “gay coming of age film” about a young man at a fictional Virginia college, was written and produced by a Jerry Meadors, a friend of Goode’s and the Managing Director of the Danville North Theatre. Goode’s Press Secretary Linwood Duncan sits on the theatre’s board and had a speaking role in the film. The movie, which features numerous scenes of gay sex and drug use, even thanks Goode and his wife for their support in the credits.
Why is Virgil’s support of the individuals who put this movie together such an issue?
Goode has spoken forcefully against rights for homosexual people, and strongly supported the Marriage Amendment Act of 2006 which would have made marriage legal only between a man and a woman. In August when presidential candidate Barack Obama stopped in Southside, he told the Martinsville bulletin if he could ask the candidate one question it would be about the impact of gay marriage.
In 2003, the same year the movie was produced, Congressman Goode earmarked $150,000 Federal taxpayer dollars to Danville’s North Theater, where Meadors serves as artistic director.
Virgil Goode should have to explain his use of taxpayer money to support the individuals who wrote, produced and acted in Eden’s Curve while at the same time bashing those who fight for equal treatment for gays in America. Goode’s hypocrisy is stunning enough in its own right, but Virgil took it to another level when he wrote it into the federal budget.
To Whom It May Concern,As a Virginia voter, tax payer, and student at the University of Virginia (an area belonging to the fifth congressional district), I am outraged by Congressman Virgil Goode's (VA-05) behavior and hypocrisy.
As you may or may not know by now, Congressman Virgil Goode (VA-05) gave $150,000 of tax payer's dollars to the producer and co-writer of a soft core porn film that came out in 2003. At the end of the film, during the credits, "Congressman Virgil Good and his wife Lucy Goode" are named personally under the heading, "The Producers Wish to Thank the Following". Goode's very own Press Secretary even stars in the film!
The film, entitled "Eden's Curve", depicts many graphic hetero- and homosexual sex scenes as well as drug use, violence, and threesomes. While, this ordinarily would not be a problem within the world of cinema, I find it troubling that the bigoted Congressman Goode gives tax dollars to have themes portrayed that he publicly and politically denounces.
I have followed the race in VA-05 Virgil Goode (R) vs. Tom Perriello (D) race very closely and I find this all too ironic. Perriello, founder of many religious non-profits organizations, is a strict Catholic who has run a squeaky clean campaign. He even tithes 10% of all his volunteer hours to charities around the district. Yet, despite this devout candidate, Virgil Goode has still attacked Perriello for not coming out strongly against gay marriage and for being "out of touch" with Virginia Southside voters. I wonder how many of Goode's current constituents would approve of this film or that they paid for it!
What does this say about Goode's moral compass? Gay sex, violent sex, and threesomes are appropriate behaviors so long as no one gets married? How about his honesty or management skills? It is acceptable fund a friend's film project so long as you use hard-working, middle and lower class Virginia taxpayer dollars?
I trust you will recognize the severity of this discovery and give it proper media attention. Past voters in Virginia deserve the right to know what has happened over the last five years and future voters deserve the ability to make a fully informed decision for their congressional representative on November 5th.
Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Kate Vasiloff
University of Virginia
Class of 2009
This is just blatant hypocrisy; I mean, a part of me is happy that Virgil wouldn't mind funding a theater that is run by a guy who creates a movie like this because it might mean he's not really a complete homophobe. At the same time, he's virulently opposed to gay rights, so who the hell knows what to think? Hopefully, this will screw him up.
I understand if you parse the wording, it dances around this, but, this letter creates a wholly different impression.
Now, Eden's Curve doesn't look like porn, per se. Let's go with gay erotica. IMDB says that if you enjoyed "Eden's Curve," you may also enjoy "Eating Out," "Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds," and "Head On."
Thank-you to Virgil Goode and wife in Eden's Curve Credits:
PRICELESS!