The Malloy administration's plan to permanently close two I-84 rest areas in Willington on July 1 – on the way to closing all seven of Connecticut's noncommercial rest areas on interstate highways in the next two years – will be scrapped and they will all stay open, the legislature's transportation committee co-chairman, Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, said Wednesday morning.

Contacted by the Courant about his week-long fight to reverse the plan, Guerrera confirmed Wednesday morning that amended language has been prepared to undo part of a budget-implementation bill passed earlier this week. The language provided for the closing of the two Willington areas, one on each side of I-84, on the eve of a big holiday weekend when drivers take to the highways. The amended language is to be approved today, on the last day of the 2011 legislative session, he said.

But even beyond the technical language, Guerrera said "the administration has assured me that the rest areas all will stay open" – not just the two to be immediately closed in Willington, but also the other five set for closing in the following fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. The other five are: on I-84 in Danbury and Southington; on I-91 in Middletown and Wallingford; and on I-95 in North Stonington.

"I'm just happy to have worked this out with the administration," Guerrera said.

We are disturbed, though, by older, recently disclosed allegations from Jason Page, who in 2002 worked as a communications director for the city of Danbury under Mayor Mark Boughton and Boughton's then chief of staff, Michael McLachlan.

Page claims both men scolded him for not telling them he was gay before Page was hired by the city.

This week, McLachlan, now a state senator, called that allegation "absurd."

He added that when McLachlan discovered Page was speaking with gay-straight alliance groups at area high schools, he told the communications director, "I might go home every night and beat my wife, but I don't come into work and talk about it."

"I remember it as clear as day," Page said. "I should have gone to Mark (Boughton) at that point and told him what he said, but I knew they were tight.

"I was called a fag in the locker room at Yale Field when I was covering the New Haven Ravens and that didn't bother me as much as what McLachlan said. I will remember that 'til the day I die."

McLachlan, when asked about the comments Monday, called them "absolutely absurd. I have friends who are gay."

The state lawmaker, who resigned from his post in the mayor's office after winning election to the state Legislature in 2008, said the incident was a long time ago and he didn't recall the meeting Page alleges took place.

He declined further comment.

In 2002, he shelved his stage name and used his given name, Jason Gontarek, as the director of communications for Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

Current state Sen. Mike McLachlan, R-Danbury, was Boughton's chief of staff.

"So I uprooted from East Haven, moved to Danbury, bought a condo and two months into the job, my partner at the time, Oscar, made a really nice special piece of artwork for me and he wrote a message on the back," Page said. "It was something to the effect of, 'Love, Oscar.'

"One day the mayor's wife came in and looked at the back of the frame that was on my wall. It was a Friday. The following Monday they bring me in, the chief of staff, Mike McLachlan, and the mayor bring me in and proceed to essentially rip me a new one because I didn't tell them before I was hired that I was gay and they were like, 'We should never be finding out this way, what if we found out through the press? You should have told us before we hired you. …'

"From that day until the day I left McLachlan was cold to me."

[...]

McLachlan issued a "no comment" through his office for this story.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) (a) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in consultation with the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control and the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, shall approve the establishment of any regional fire school. Any municipality seeking to establish a regional fire school shall hold a public hearing in the municipality where the regional fire school is proposed to be established and, after the public hearing, submit an application to the commissioner. Not later than sixty days after such application, the commissioner, in consultation with the commission and the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, shall approve or deny the application.

"Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) (a) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in consultation with the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control and the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, shall approve the establishment of any regional fire school. Any municipality seeking to establish a regional fire school shall submit an application to the commissioner. Not later than sixty days after such application, the commissioner, in consultation with the commission and the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, shall approve or deny the application. "

He added that when McLachlan discovered Page was speaking with gay-straight alliance groups at area high schools, he told the communications director, "I might go home every night and beat my wife, but I don't come into work and talk about it."
...
"I was called a fag in the locker room at Yale Field when I was covering the New Haven Ravens and that didn't bother me as much as what McLachlan said. I will remember that 'til the day I die."

McLachlan, when asked about the comments Monday, called them "absolutely absurd. I have friends who are gay."
...
He declined further comment.

On Monday, McLachlan said he stands by his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.

"It's a philosophical difference," he said. "Some people believe in gay marriage, and some people believe marriage is between a man and a woman. That's what I believe. That's the bottom line."

Although he worked as an openly gay morning host at Gay & Lesbian Radio on SiriusXM eight years ago, Jason Page was more private when he entered the testosterone-fueled field of sports talk radio. He wasn't comfortable letting the sports world know about his personal life.

No way, no how.

In the past few weeks, CNN weekend anchor Don Lemon, former Villanova basketball player Will Sheridan, Phoenix Suns general manager Rick Welts and ESPN radio personality Jared Max have all come out and said they are gay.

Their candor helped give Page, a former sports radio personality in the Hartford market, the courage to say he is gay, too.

"One person does it, which emboldens another person to do it, which emboldens another person to do it," said Page. "I think it's a snowball effect, and I'm hoping what I'm doing will kind of do the same thing."

To be fair, that's not all Page is hoping happens. Page, whose afternoon ESPN show was carried on WPOP-1410 in Hartford until January, wants to live his life free and with no secrets.

"There were a lot of times when I felt Jason wasn't being himself at work and it affected him, and it affected the way he treated people," said Evan Wilner, Page's former producer at POP. "He treated people differently because you could tell he wasn't happy with the person they thought he was. He was trying to be someone he wasn't. Now, he gets to be who he is, and I think that's great. I think [coming out is] going to help him."

In 2002, he shelved his stage name and used his given name, Jason Gontarek, as the director of communications for Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

Current state Sen. Mike McLachlan, R-Danbury, was Boughton's chief of staff.

"So I uprooted from East Haven, moved to Danbury, bought a condo and two months into the job, my partner at the time, Oscar, made a really nice special piece of artwork for me and he wrote a message on the back," Page said. "It was something to the effect of, 'Love, Oscar.'

"One day the mayor's wife came in and looked at the back of the frame that was on my wall. It was a Friday. The following Monday they bring me in, the chief of staff, Mike McLachlan, and the mayor bring me in and proceed to essentially rip me a new one because I didn't tell them before I was hired that I was gay and they were like, 'We should never be finding out this way, what if we found out through the press? You should have told us before we hired you. …'

"From that day until the day I left McLachlan was cold to me."

McLachlan issued a "no comment" through his office for this story. Boughton responded.

He said he thought he knew Page, or Gontarek, was gay and he called the conversation Page alluded to "complete nonsense."

Asked if he knew Gontarek was gay before he hired him, Boughton said: "It was nine years ago so I don't specifically recall exactly, but I was aware and I frankly didn't care. It wasn't relative to what kind of job he could do. We have other people who are gay that work for various parts of the administration. It wasn't an issue at all."

Got that jobseekers? Just let Boughton and McLachlan know whether you like guys or girls (or both) during the job interview, and everything will be fine!

No wonder these guys weren't in favor of Equality.

First, a huge THANK YOU to the folks at the Hartford Courant for their professionalism and discretion in the way they handled this story. There are a lot of elements that went into this process over the past couple of weeks. There were many delicate matters that had to be discussed. They could not have been better to deal with during all of this. That needs to be said. Real journalism isn’t dead. It still lives. The Hartford Courant has made me believe that.

Next, I should address why I chose to do this now. The article talks about it some, but we always find ourselves remembering things we would have liked to say if we had the opportunity to do the interview again. Plain and simple. If not now, then when?? I am 33 years old and I didn’t want to go on living my life in a “dual-personality” sort of way. Some may have assumed I was gay over the years. Some might have thought otherwise. Up until recently, I hadn’t been in many meaningful relationships (over the past 3 years). I have been seeing somebody now for a couple of months and its been a great experience. This contributed some to my decision to do this now. I didn’t come out while working for Clear Channel and ESPN Radio 1410. The reason was simple. I couldn’t be sure upper-management would have my back if the ratings declined as a result of coming out of the closet. As many stories as were told in the Courant article, in terms of some of the things I have endured being out in the workplace, I didn’t share all of my stories out of fear for a backlash against me by radio executives. In the end, I now regret not coming out while on the air with Clear Channel. I will leave it at that.

I have lived my life as two different people for the past 11 years. There was the Jason everybody knew on the air and there was the Jason who lived a much different life than anyone had probably imagined. This often created conflicts for me that I just got used to “managing” over the past decade. Introducing a partner or a boyfriend as a “friend.” Having to remind said “friend” that in public we couldn’t show affection towards one another and had to be careful what we discussed within ear-shot of others. I forgot how much work that had been over the past 10 years. It was only through talking with Desmond Conner that I realized what I had been putting myself through.

I am at a crossroads in my life both personally and professionally. I was on the fence for a few days on whether or not to reveal this “secret” out of fear of what it might mean to my career. Radio is an extremely subjective business. As one very high-profile personality told me in private: “You never want to give a radio or TV outlet a reason not to hire you.” Now, I have done so. For as much as we might like to believe discrimination doesn’t exist towards all minorities, I can tell you that it does. I have worked in the media biz since I was 17 years old. If they don’t have a reason not to hire you or a reason to fire you, they will find or concoct one. This is a truth that might make some media insiders cringe and it might even cost me a few opportunities for work, but it’s the reality of the world we live in.

[...]

Up until today, I have always viewed being gay as a minute part of who I am. Like the color of my hair or hazel eyes, I never wanted it to define me. I realize thats not possible in the world we live in. And if I can help just one other person whose in a similar situation to the one I have been faced with for the last decade, then believe it or not, this has all been worth it. I am sure I will have more to say. But this is it for now.