The longtime self-declared standard bearer of the so-called conservative movement and editor of National Review, William F. Buckley, was a closeted homosexual:
Back in the day, there was a famous feud that sometimes spilled out into public view – on tv, in the courts, and on the pages of certain magazines – between two men, both now deceased. They were on opposite ends of one spectrum, and while it may come as a shock to some the same end of a different spectrum.
By the time it escalated into a legal battle – there had already been years of shouting matches and near altercations – the two had amassed impressive files on each other. The longtime Hollywood procurer for the other denies on record that any of his interests there were underage, but what of course about the time he spent abroad, in southern Europe and later in Asia? The sworn statements provided to that legacy detective agency tell a different story. This person went to his grave fearful about the release of these statements and related pictures. The relatives may have been scorned, and left out of the will, but they were still telling the truth.
So, why then did #1 drop the suit at the eleventh hour, fearful of what he might be asked under oath? It might be because of what #2’s team, which included a purported former KGB spy, had found out about #1’s own interest: barely legal hustlers, often rough trade. He’d hire them whenever he was visiting his many politician friends in DC. He called them his “habit.” For him, the revelation would have been enough to end his career, and bring down his empire.
From The New York Times of September 26, 1972:
Buckley Drops Vidal Suit, Settles With Esquire
The legal battle between William F. Buckley, Jr. and Gore Vidal arising out of their public exchange of affronts, apparently came to an end yesterday with an announcement by Mr. Buckley of two acts: the dropping of his suit against Mr. Vidal and an out-of- court settlement of $115,000 with Esquire magazine.
The conservative movement has always been a fraud. It is the Washington Generals of American politics. No wonder its opinion leaders are so reliably worthless.