"He said that he enjoyed [Jack] Valenti’s company very much on a social basis inasmuch as Valenti possessed a dynamic and very interesting personality. He said that he could never under any circumstances consider Valenti as ‘sexually attractive,’ but merely thought of him as a very charming and intelligent individual," – the testimony of a traumatized gay photographer, hounded by J. Edgar Hoover, in one of Hoover’s routine homosexual hunts.
Valenti? Gay? Ewww. The story is fascinating for its insight into attitudes toward homosexuality in the 1960s, including Bill Moyers’ pursuit of some closeted gays (there weren’t many other types back then) for political purposes. It is also fascinating because it reveals that the Washington Post still cannot report in its pages that Hoover was a gay man. I mean: really. What bizarre blend of fact-checking neurosis, homophobia and resilient Downieism caused that?
The Dish 