Lane Hudson

Lane Hudson is a former staff member for the United States Democratic Party and a liberal blogger who exposed the Mark Foley scandal.

Hudson was profiled in Time magazine's 2006 Person of the Year issue."Time". " [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570716,00.html Lane Hudson] ". 16 December 2006]

Early life

A lifelong Democrat, Hudson was born in Darlington, South Carolina and grew up in neighboring Hartsville. After high school in Myrtle Beach, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston. He worked for a number of political campaigns including that of John Kerry. In 1995, he met Mark Foley at a Capitol Hill bar, where Foley attempted to pick him up.

top Sex Predators

In July 2006, Hudson anonymously launched a blog called "Stop Sex Predators." His intention, as he stated on his blog, was "to serve as a clearing house for the public to report sex predators and as a resource for concerned parents and citizens." ["Stop Sex Predators". " [http://stopsexpredators.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_stopsexpredators_archive.html Make the World Safer for our Kids] ". 28 July 2006.] Beginning in August, he started posting about Congressmen rumored to have sex affairs with congressional pages, and solicited tips and e-mails. ["Stop Sex Predators". " [http://stopsexpredators.blogspot.com/2006/08/congressional-corruption.html CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION!!!] ". 24 August 2006.] On 24 September 2006 he posted photocopied e-mails from Mark Foley to a 16-year-old page. ["Stop Sex Predators". " [http://stopsexpredators.blogspot.com/2006/09/emails-from-congressman-foley-to-16.html Emails from Congressman Foley to 16 Year Old Page!!!!] ". 24 September 2006] The political blog Wonkette expressed skepticism about Hudson's post, ["Wonkette". " [http://www.wonkette.com/politics/mark-foley/underaged-gay-sex-scandal-203725.php Underaged Gay Sex Scandal!] ". 27 September 2006] and users of the website Daily Kos suspected the post to be a hoax, ["Daily Kos". " [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/24/142531/083 Congressman Mark Foley Emails to Intern] ". 24 September 2006] but on September 28, ABC News' Brian Ross confirmed the existence of the e-mails,"ABC News". " [http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/sixteenyearold_.html Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman] ". 28 September 2006] which he had received in August but not previously reported on. ["New York Times". " [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/washington/03media.html Papers Knew of Foley E-Mail But Did Not Publish Articles] ". 3 October 2006]

When Hudson's identity was revealed, he was fired from his job at Human Rights Campaign."New York Times". " [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/us/politics/26foley.html? Rights Group Fires Publisher of Foley E-Mail] ". 26 October 2006.] Hudson joked that despite the fact that he simply told the truth, he was the only person in Washington fired over Mark Foley's exploits. "Stop Sex Predators" ceased updates after Hudson was fired.

Independent blogging

After losing his job, Hudson became an independent blogger. He started a blog called "News for the Left" and also began writing for the liberal "Huffington Post".

Fred Thompson complaint

On August 20, 2007, Hudson filed a complaint with the FEC regarding Fred Thompson. The complaint alleged that Thompson had violated the "testing the waters" clause of FEC law, essentially by acting as a "de facto" candidate without formally declaring himself as one. ["News For The Left". " [http://newsfortheleft.blogspot.com/2007/08/fec-complaint-filed-against-fred.html FEC Complaint filed against Fred Thompson] ". 20 August 2007] In response to the complaint the FEC has issued the following statement. "The FEC will now give Thompson 15 days to respond to the complaint. Following Thompson's response, election commissioners will decide whether to dismiss the case or investigate further." In Thompson's defense, " [Thompson] has not said definitively that he's a candidate for president. He is expected to make an announcement around Labor Day." ["Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press". " [http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/21/ap4039028.html Thompson Faces Election Complaint] ". 21 August 2007] Under current regulations he can only use the money to "test the waters".

Faith in America

In February 2008, Hudson accepted the position of Director of Communications and Strategy for Faith in America [http://www.faithinamerica.com] . The organization, which was founded by furniture designer and philanthropist, Mitchell Gold, seeks to end the use of religion to justify prejudice against gay Americans. Faith in America's message connects the dots of history to highlight when misguided religious teaching was once used to justify slavery, denying women full and equal rights, to justify segregation, and to deny people of different races to marry. Today, it is the gay and lesbian community that is experiencing the kind of discrimination we have seen throughout history.

References

External links

* [http://stopsexpredators.blogspot.com/ Stop Sex Predators] , Hudson's anonymous blog (no longer updated)
* [http://newsfortheleft.blogspot.com/ News For The Left] , Hudson's more recent blog (no longer updated)
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lane-hudson/ Lane Hudson] at the Huffington Post