You can purchase an autographed copy of Anything But Straight by sending a $35 check or money order to:
-------------------------
Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
Somehow, the idea of furtive bathroom sex seemed more in vogue when pop icon George Michael was arrested. Now, the guy in the stall next to you is likely a gay obsessed mayor, an undercover cop or a crusty old conservative legislator. With such unappetizing menu choices, one has to be quite desperate and pathetic to try to find his man in the can - especially with the advent of the Internet, which can deliver a pick-up faster than a pizza.
So, the few remaining men who seek to cruise the commode are mostly married conservative hypocrites looking for love on the sly. Exhibit A is Larry Craig, a married Republican Senator from Idaho who pleaded guilty to soliciting a police officer for sex at the Minneapolis airport in June.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force pointed out that Craig supported both the Federal Marriage Amendment and Idaho's anti-same-sex marriage constitutional amendment. He is not supportive of nondiscrimination and hate crimes legislation that would extend protections to gay people and has even refused to pledge that his own office would not discriminate against LGBT people. (Was he afraid of temptation?)
The Senator's tortured attempts to explain away the obvious were as comical as they were tragic.
"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions," Craig said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."
How were they misconstruing it? We all know what it means if you shake it more than five times. The fact is, Craig was tapping his foot and reaching under the stall, and seemed to be quite adept at giving the arcane signals necessary for a fling between flights.
Yet, astoundingly, the Senator sounded a defiant note at his press conference implausibly denying his homosexuality. "I am not gay. I never have been gay," said Craig.
Airports can be quite boring and, perhaps, he was just a straight guy passing the time, rather than making a pass at a clandestine cop. But, this isn't the first time Craig has been tied to bathroom cruising. Activist extraordinaire Mike Rogers had previously revealed that Craig was a known cruiser at Washington's notorious Union Station restrooms. Yes, I also realize that there is little to do while waiting for trains. May I suggest the Senator travel by car -with a driver - next time?
How many of these incidents will it take before America realizes that the family values crowd is a big, fat fraud? They are a batch of moralizing molesters, pious pervs, closeted creeps and values voyeurs. It is time the right just closes shop and stops pointing fingers - because we have no idea where those sticky fingers have been.
In recent memory, we have been treated to Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley's preoccupation with teenage pages; The National Association of Evangelical's leader Ted Haggard's working relationship with escort Mike Jones; Florida Republican legislator Bob Allen getting arrested in a park restroom for soliciting oral sex from a police officer; The arrest of Southern Baptist Convention leader Lonnie Latham in Oklahoma City on a lewdness complaint for allegedly propositioning a plainclothes policeman; and Indiana Young Republican National Federation leader Glenn Murphy resigning after police charged him with sexually assaulting a Young Republican friend, while his comrade was napping in a drunken stupor.
Forgive me if I missed a tawdry scandal, but I would need a Republican database of disgrace to keep track. Or, I could always call Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle for the "facts." The mayor is so gay sex obsessed that he recently tried to raid the city's treasury to buy robo-johns to prevent gay men from getting it on. But, it turned out the mayor may actually have issues, when the police said gay bathroom sex was a non-issue.
If people, such as Naugle, have problems with restroom sex, they only have themselves to blame. Fundamentalism is the primary cause, not the solution to such behavior. People such as the moralizing mayor have made every effort to publicly shame gay people - inevitably driving some individuals to join conservative political movements and engage in shameful actions.
Interestingly, Fort Lauderdale televangelist D. James Kennedy, who Naugle praises as a great man, retired the same week that Sen. Craig's secret was revealed. Kennedy's church, Coral Ridge Ministries, was the lead sponsor of the 1998 million-dollar ex-gay "Truth In Love Campaign," that caused a national uproar. While the religious right heaps effusive praise on Kennedy, the Craig incident reminds us that Kennedy-type anti-gay crusades have probably lead more closeted married men to bathroom glory holes, than to the glory of God.
40 Comments:
I've been out since 1977 and even I had to read the article to find out what the 'signals' were for soliciting someone in a restroom. I have always found the idea of meeting someone for sex in a toilet revolting; the smell alone is enough to kill the libido, let alone what you might have to listen to whilst waiting for an applicant to show up. Besides, at Craig's age, while waiting for his flight, you'd think he'd be content to just read a good book (but not, of course, in a bathroom stall)-- yuck!
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 9:55 AM
Wayne you crack me up! The following line is a classic:
"So, the few remaining men who seek to cruise the commode are mostly married conservative hypocrites looking for love on the sly."
The more these hypocrites are exposed and I'm all for outing them especially whey they support antigay legislation, the more it becomes apparent that it is they who are the threat to the sanctity of marriage, not marriage equality. Nobody in the media is saying this man intended to commit adultery by his sleazy behavior in a men's restroom. About time someone brought it up. Isn't it interesting that he repeatedly said he wasn't gay, his first defense. Why didn't he say he was straight instead? Quite revealing!
posted by Robert, NYC., at
8/29/2007 2:23 PM
Craig is a classic republican liar and a cheat. He claims he's not gay yet he pleaded guilty to the offense. Please....any normal, reasonably intelligent person wouldn't plead guilty to something they claim they didn't do.
To digress, I was listening to the Lionel Show this morning on Air America regarding the Craig debacle. The host encouraged Log Cabiners to call in to explain why they support republicans. One very self-centered fool called in to say that all he cared about was lower taxes, the war in Iraq and fighting terrorism (classic republican); but when asked about marriage equality he said..."I have no intention of marrying and I don't need any government making special laws saying that its ok to be gay". He didn't think that equality was high on the list of priorities for gay people either. So I came away from the program firmly convinced that there is something intrinsically wrong with gay people who vote for a party that clearly does not believe in inclusion let alone equality.
posted by Robert, NYC., at
8/29/2007 2:44 PM
The jokes have already started: Senator Craig, where do you come from and who are you?-- Idahomosexual! or Sen. Craig, what are you?-- I da ho. At his press conference Craig started out by saying, "thank you all for coming out today", response--everybody came out but you! News commentator: "Senator Craig's wife was standing behind him" --response: but first she had to push the men out of the way. Red V
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 2:47 PM
It gets better. I just heard a 40 year old man admitted to fellating Sen. Craig in a restroom in Union Station in Washington, DC. The bathroom apparently was so crowded so they couldn't "consummate" anything and had to use another restroom, lol. Don't you just love it. Yeah, Larry....you're not gay!
posted by Robert, NYC., at
8/29/2007 3:11 PM
Good column. But I do think there is a possibility re Craig that seems to be getting overlooked: He could indeed be a straight man who has gay compulsiveness -- including the sort that drives a pursuit of public restroom encounters. It happens. Many gay porn stars are fundamentally straight. They are messed up, of course. And Larry Craig, whether truly gay, or straight-with-gay-compulsions, is clearly messed up. And, also, I'm with the guy who has been out since 1977 -- I've been out a long time, too, and I have NEVER sought or engaged in public restroom sex. Because it's incredibly gross, extremely inconsiderate of other people, and dangerous. I know a small number of gay men who have engaged in that kind of activity, but I would bet the majority of us are totally not into it.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 3:37 PM
Anonymous, no truly straight man would ever go with another male for sex. If a straight man can get aroused watching let alone having gay sex, he's not straight by any definition, porn stars notwithstanding. I doubt if the majority of gay men become aroused looking at women, let along having "compulsions" to do them.
posted by Robert, NYC., at
8/29/2007 3:53 PM
Straight guys with gay compulsiveness are called bisexuals, and straight guys who do gay porn do for the big bucks (gay for pay). As for the guy who fellated Craig-ewwwwww-he must have been desperate. BTW, have you heard, Craig was implicated in a sex scandal on capitol hill in the 80s which involved 10 year old boys. Of course he denied it up and down. As Randi Rhodes says, GOP stands for Grand Ol' Pedophiles!
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 3:58 PM
Yeah, Randi cracks me up. She just said one of Craig's excuses for having his foot in the other guy's stall was that he was just sitting with a wide stance! Randi said, "I've seen women giving birth whose stance wasnt that wide--what was he straddling, a rhinosaurus?!". LOL. Gary (NJ)
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 4:11 PM
Sorry to say Senator, You're toast. All that anti-gay bad karma comin right at ya!
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 4:11 PM
There's no way He won't resign. Think about it--is there ANY way any other male Senator would be caught dead in the same Mens Room at the Capitol with Craig???
posted by Anonymous, at
8/29/2007 4:30 PM
Seems to me that the GOP holds the monopoly on self-loathers, hypocrisy, bigotry, cheating and adultery. It is the party of hate since this is what it is engendering in the form of Larry Craig, Bob Allen, Mark Foley et al. So much for the party stance on family values and the sanctity of marriage, marriage being the perfect cover for self-loathers. Proves the ex-gay ministries aren't working and that bisexuality is a crock.
posted by Robert, NYC., at
8/30/2007 8:19 AM
Craig is obviously not alone. Check out what is going on in Atlanta, link below. It proves that many socalled hetero men are deeply closeted, self-loathing gay men and the majority appear to be republican, using marriage as a front. Despicable!
http://www.towleroad.com/2007/08/larry-craig-inc.html
posted by Robert, NYC., at
8/30/2007 12:41 PM
It's true that you can be straight with gay compulsiveness. It's like the Kinsey scale.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/04/2007 5:25 PM
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