New York City leather bar The Eagle sparked outrage online after sharing a photo to its official Instagram page of a recent party attended by none other than Aaron Schock accompanied by two bare-chested friends.
Schock is the disgraced former Republican Representative for Illinois who left Congress following a high-profile campaign finance scandal and who later came out as gay despite having a socially conservative voting record of consistently opposing LGBTQ+ rights.
The Eagle deleted the photograph following heavy backlash and while it is possible whoever posted the photograph to the bar's social media page didn't recognize Schock, the picture was up long enough for screenshots to be taken and for it to circulate online before it was officially removed.
You can see the photo below.
Schock came out as gay in March 2020 and expressed regret for some of his previous policy decisions, though it did little to appease his critics.
He notably received a zero percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group and political lobbying organization. He also voted against amending federal hate crimes laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability.
Schock didn't stop there.
In 2010, he voted against the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian or bisexual persons from military service.
In addition to a host of votes that further imperiled the lives of members of the LGBTQ+ community, Schock, who considers himself pro-life, voted against allowing federal funding for abortions and co-sponsored the Sanctity of Human Life Act, which declared Congress should protect all pregnancies beginning at fertilization.
These facts prompted many to criticize The Eagle, which was accused of capitalizing on Schock's presence at their event.
Schock's sexuality had been the subject of wide speculation for years before he came out.
He courted significant controversy after he was photographed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with several gay men and a video was publicized showing Schock kissing and fondling another man at the same event.
Not long afterward, a video was released showing Schock tipping a male go-go dancer at a gay bar in Mexico City and he was later seen and photographed at a dance party for gay men in Los Angeles, incidents that drew harsh rebukes from LGBTQ+ rights activists who already abhorred his voting record.
Schock resigned from Congress amid a scandal involving his use of public and campaign funds. A subsequent congressional ethics investigation "revealed that he used taxpayer money to fund lavish trips and events."
In 2016, a federal grand jury indicted Schock in connection with the scandal.
After he pled not guilty, prosecutors reached a deferred prosecution agreement with him in March 2019 whereby all charges against him were dropped in return for a period of good behavior and payment of $100,000 in restitution.
