Electoral history Studds made his first run for Congress in
1970, seeking election in Massachusetts'
12th congressional district. He narrowly lost to the
Republican incumbent
Hastings Keith. and Studds edged out the Republican
William D. Weeks by just 1,118 votes. Studds was dogged by rumors of homosexuality in the 1978 campaign, but nonetheless won re-election. In 1983, Studds was transferred to the
10th congressional district after another round of redistricting, serving until 1997.
1983 congressional page scandal Studds was a central figure in the
1983 congressional page sex scandal, when he and Representative
Dan Crane were each separately censured by the House of Representatives for inappropriate relationships with
congressional pages—in Studds' case, a 1973 sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male. In addition, two other male pages testified, and Studds confirmed, that Studds had made sexual advances to them in 1973. During the course of the
House Ethics Committee's investigation, Studds publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, thereby becoming the first openly gay member of Congress. In an address to the House, Studds said, "It is not a simple task for any of us to meet adequately the obligations of either public or private life, let alone both, but these challenges are made substantially more complex when one is, as I am, both an elected public official and gay." Although Studds disagreed with the committee's findings of improper sexual conduct, he waived his right to a public hearing in order to protect the privacy of those involved. He said that deciding not to have a hearing "presented me with the most difficult choice I have had to make in my life." However, after Studds' death, his widower Dean Hara said that Studds had never been ashamed of the relationship. In testimony to investigators, the page testified that being Studds' sexual partner made him "somewhat uncomfortable" and that "I would [rather] have had the friendship that I had with the man without the sex," but qualified his testimony by saying that his experience with Studds was not "destructive or painful." The page also said that Studds neither offered him an inducement to sleep with him nor prevented him from ending the relationship. The House Ethics Committee initially recommended the less punitive option of a reprimand, which would not have cost Studds his subcommittee chairmanship on the
Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. However, the full House raised the penalty under discussion from reprimand to censure, by a vote of 338–87. On July 20, 1983, the House voted to
censure Studds, by a vote of 420–3. In 2006, following the
Mark Foley page scandal, pundits compared the actions of Foley and Congress in 2006 to Studds and Congress in 1983. (His congressional district included the gay colonies of
Martha's Vineyard and
Provincetown.) Studds received two standing ovations from supporters in his home district at his first town meeting following his censure. He was re-elected to the House six more times after the 1983 censure and became chairman of the full Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee in 1992. As a member of Congress, Studds advocated for environmental and
maritime issues,
AIDS funding, and
civil rights, particularly for gays and lesbians. He supported protectionist policies for the Massachusetts fishing industry, and in the 1970s he "largely" drafted a ban on foreign vessels fishing within 200 miles of the U.S. coast, winning him the lifelong friendship of Alaska Republican
Don Young, the bill's co-author, who reportedly "hate[d] homosexuals and eastern liberals, but not Mr. Studds." In 1992 he authored the
National Marine Sanctuaries Reauthorization and Improvement Act. In 1994 he joined with
Ted Kennedy to introduce legislation to end discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace. Throughout his life, Studds maintained the anti-war views that had spurred his initial entry into electoral politics. He was an outspoken opponent of the
Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense system. He also criticized the United States government's secretive support for the
Contra fighters in
Nicaragua. ==After Congress==