
My love for you is way out of line,
You're too young, man,
You're much too young, man!"
As the rapture of Gary Puckett and The Union Gap's chorus fades and another verse tells the tale of forbidden love, I think of the far-right Austrian demagogue Joerg Haider and his disciple/lover Stefan Petzner. Haider died earlier this month in a horrific car accident in southern Austria after leaving a swinging (is there any other kind?!) disco as drunk as can be. Apparently, Haider had been drowning his troubles in vodka following an argument with Petzner earlier that evening.
Together the men led the Alliance for the Future of Austria, an old-school European political party and guiding voice for closed minds and borders. Haider had intended for Petzner to lead the party after his retirement but Alliance party administrators have decided to pass on the young protege after Petzner's now infamous tell-all, teary-eyed interviews where he admitted a "special" relationship to the elder bigot.
It will be interesting to read in the coming months and years just how thorough-going Joerg Haider's duplicity and hypocrisy actually were. Unfortunately for the Austrians, they may never know the true Haider, not because such information will be lacking but because, according to Austrian gay rights advocate Christian Högl, "Haider could be having sex in front of the cameras with a man, and Austrians would pretend not to see it."
The moral of the tale: Hate, hate and hate some more, but you'd better not be gay while you do it.
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