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Register & Bee staff writer
Published: October 15, 2008
Updated: October 15, 2008
Though Congressman Virgil Goode actively opposes any rights for homosexuals, the producer of an R-rated film exploring homosexuality thanks the Rocky Mount Republican in the movie’s closing credits.
“Eden’s Curve” is a 2003 film that has been described as a gay coming of age story at a posh Virginia college. It involves Goode’s press secretary, Linwood Duncan, and is written and produced by Jerry Meadors, who is the artistic director of the North Theatre, a project Goode has supported with federal dollars in the past.
Goode’s name is listed among those Meadors thanks in the film credits.
“I don’t support the movie,” Goode said Wednesday. “I have never seen the movie and never gave them a donation.”
The congressman pointed out that the movie thanked a lot of people and organizations, including the Danville Register & Bee and Danville Parks and Recreation, among others.
Goode has spoken forcefully against rights for homosexual people and strongly supported the Marriage Amendment Act of 2006, which would have made marriage legal only between a man and a woman.
“Eden’s Curve,” according to the Internet movie database, tells the story of a boy who goes to college and becomes involved in a sexual relationship with his male roommate and his roommate’s girlfriend, and a relationship with his male poetry professor. The film’s trailer features homosexual sex scenes and a violent beating.
Meadors co-wrote and produced the film, based on a Danville native’s life. Duncan has a minor role as the dean of the college. A number of other Danville residents are listed in the cast and credits.
Duncan didn’t say anything about his own role in the movie when contacted Tuesday, but said he didn’t know why Meadors would have included Goode’s name in the film credits.
Meadors said Goode had no specific involvement with his controversial film, but thanked him in the closing credits because of his support for other projects.
“In the special thanks, you end up listing anyone who’s ever supported you,” Meadors said Wednesday. “He’s been very supportive of my artistic activities in the city.”
Meadors said he was a big supporter of Goode when he was first running for Congress on the Democratic ticket in 1996.
In 2003, the same year “Eden’s Curve” was produced, Goode earmarked $150,000 in federal taxpayer funds to Danville’s North Theatre.
The Danville Register & Bee at the time questioned Goode’s perceived favoritism with these projects because Duncan and Goode’s wife Lucy are both on the board of the North Theatre.
In 2003, Duncan told the Register & Bee he didn’t see any conflict with the earmarked dollars. “I don’t even know how a question of a conflict even arises,” he said.
Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.
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Reader Reactions
I’m amazed at the moral indignation people are mustering up in defense of Goode on this. This is not the “liberal media” out to get him; this is a legitimate story. At a bare minimum this reveals Goode’s hypocrisy. Does anybody else remember that he first came out swinging against Perriello by accusing him of supporting gay marriage? And now we find out that he is diverting tax-payer money for what amounts to gay soft porn. People are seriously going to try to argue this is not news? What is at issue here is that Goode consistently fails to support policies and provide funding to help the people of Southside. And while he’s more than willing to toss around social issues as a political football just to play up partisan divides in the hopes that it will damage his opponent, he clearly doesn’t actually care about them at all. VA’s 5th deserves someone better than this.
Let’s look past the fact that Goode put tax payer money towards pornography (though it may be difficult) and remember that the issue here is blatent hypocrisy.
Goode attacks his opponent by accusing him of supporting gay marriage, and then he goes and puts tax payer money into a film that goes against everything he claims to be about.
is this the kind of integrity we want to put in office? Definitely not.
Look, if Rep. Goode is linked to this in any way, we need to know about it. As a Republican, I’m sick and tired of us casting stones at the other side’s failings but always making excuses for our guys. It’s time to seperate the wheat from the chaff and if Virgil has had a hand in this abomination, he needs to answer for it.
READ THE STORY AGAIN!!! It does not say that tax dollar went to support the movie… It just says that Virgil has supported projects in the past that Jerry Meadows has been involved in. GOOD GRIEF!!!!!
See what you have done Register and Bee….
Let me get this straight… this Congressman is moving taxpayer money to a person’s business who is making gay movies? And his wife and a staffer are on the board. He needs to go be a Congressman in Southern California where this trash is appropriate. This isn’t Virginia. Goode’s time is up.
Just goes to show how hypocritical people can be. So let me get this straight: Rep. Goode is credited with making a gay porn flick possible, his press secretary has an acting role in the film, and Goode earmarked taxpayer dollars to the film’s producer. And folks are arguing that there is no story here?!
These would probably be the same people crying for blood if the Democrat was even remotely involved in something like this. Where are all the family values advocates when it is the Republican promoting gay orgies and drug use? This is clearly newsworthy and also will likely cost Goode the election. It should too. The fact that he would use tax-payer $ to promote this sort of thing shows a complete lack of judgement and messed-up values.
Are you kidding me? You are ok with your money going to his friend’s film project? Who cares what the movie is about, this is about using tax payer dollars for something it never should be used for.
Also, can Goode get more hypocritical? We all know how blatantly bigoted he is. How can he defend giving money to this film when he denounces everything the film is about? It’s ok to have gay sex but not gay marriage? This is ridiculous.
What are you people trying to do?
Virgil has done nothing but brought jobs and money to this area.
You run a headline Goode linked to Gay Movie.
Have you really researched this before you wrote the story? or do you print what you think will sell your paper?
Instead of being call the Danville Register and Bee, maybe it is time to change the name to the Danville Enquirer.
This is nothing more than an absolute hatchet job. This is not even NEWS. Blast a headline “GOODE LINKED TO GAY MOVIE”. Just another horrible attempt by this rag of a paper to attack a candidate it does not support. The “earmark” to North Theatre was an attempt to bolster a section of town that has been blot with crime. I rather see Federal money be used to invest in a business to try to help change a dying community ...rather than hand it out as entitlments to people who don’t work and don’t want to work but live off the taxpayers.
So movies like this one are what Virgil Goode believes tax payer money should be spent on? He opposes rebates for workers and SCHIP, but will support earmarks for a friend’s art project? I guess artistic expression is more important than our children’s health to Goode. I’m certainly glad to learn what his priorities and values are. Apparently they are not the hardworking people of his district.
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