So … heard any ugly rumors about gays lately? Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine and fretter about homosexuality, would love to hear them. Strike that; earlier this week he wanted “tips, rumors, speculation and facts” about the sexual orientation of legislators and other political leaders. Now he doesn’t. Now he says he has come to understand that “my words and conduct have besmirched the fine reputation and important ministry” of the league.

Pity the league – along with the rest of us, he likely meant to add.

What were his words? They appeared on the league’s Web site:

“A popular metaphor with the social left in recent decades,” he wrote, “is ‘coming out of the closet.’ It seems to have fallen out of use in recent years. We are going to resurrect it, and see if we can help our friends in the State House. In this age of ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ and ‘Sex in the City,’ [close enough] it is only appropriate that all of us here in Maine understand the ‘sexual orientation’ of our leaders. Since this matter of ‘sexual orientation’ is of such fundamental importance that we must turn civilization on its head to accommodate it, we feel duty-bound to help you gain a better understanding.

“We will therefore be writing about state leaders in coming months regarding their ‘sexual orientation.’ …

“If you can help us, please do.

E-mail us tips, rumors, speculation and facts. The more information we have the better. We will respect and honor confidentiality. Help the League stand for righteousness.”

The righteous league can decide for itself what to do with an executive director so out of control that he used its Web site to try to obtain blackmail material for use against public officials, but the Legislature and the Baldacci administration should say, “Enough.” This tantrum came after Mr. Heath failed in a close vote to persuade the Legislature to support a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Whatever lawmakers feel about gay rights for housing or employment, whatever they feel about civil unions or gay marriage, they should understand that the integrity of their office demands they no longer rely on the support of a person who would resort to threats and intimidation.

Perhaps Mr. Heath was sincere in his apology, but it seemed odd that he apparently didn’t remove his request for gay tips because he realized the nastiness of it. The site remained for nearly a week, until enough people – including both parties in the Legislature and the governor – condemned it, by which time continuing the site would have been politically detrimental to him and the league. Suddenly the site was gone, replaced by a lavish apology. Perhaps convenience is a form of sincerity in this case.

In any event, Mr. Heath was correct about one thing. The nation finds homosexuality a topic of particular fascination and spends an inordinate amount of time debating it. Betsy Smith of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance said the league’s Web site was “all about outing” – true – “and in this day and age, it doesn’t matter anymore what someone’s sexual orientation is.” Not strictly true, but what she meant by that, Ms. Smith said, is that we “are further along in the debate [over homosexuality] and further along in the conversation, so that being gay doesn’t determine how another person looks at that person. It doesn’t determine how one votes, how one works, how one volunteers in the community.”

The direction in which the public is moving regarding gay people is as clear as a wedding bell. This is partly generational: 20- and 30-year-olds seem much more accepting of gays than people my and Mr. Heath’s age or older. But sexual orientation will always matter, especially while discrimination makes telling friends and family you’re gay agonizingly difficult, while the suicide rate among gays is higher than average, while gays marrying provokes a national debate.

Sexual orientation matters because the powerful desire from which it springs is an essential part of who a person is, and homosexuality matters because it is the minority orientation and is therefore the more remarkable. Mr. Heath can’t change that. But at least as important politically is that sexual orientation matters because groups such as the Christian Civic League spend an unusual amount of time worrying about it, with their worries sometimes translated into legislation.

That, finally, was the brilliance of the Web site: Even as Mr. Heath lamented the public’s overwhelming interest in sex, particularly sexual orientation, he drew attention to the subject through his request for rumors about legislators’ sexual habits. He created a perpetual employment opportunity for himself – for as long as the league could stand all that righteousness.

Todd Benoit is the BDN editorial page editor.