Busted: The Slow Collapse of The GOP
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Tuesday, August 28 2007, 9:26AM
Yesterday Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally took the advice that almost everyone in Washington had given him and resigned. In the process, he left behind a cloud of doubt and suspicion over the Justice Department. His announcement came just a week after the resignation of White House political director Karl Rove, in the same month as the retirement notice of White House press secretary Tony Snow, and less than a year from the departure of embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And it took place on the same day when Senator Larry Craig, a prominent Republican from Idaho, acknowledged that he had pleaded guilty to a sex crime in an airport men's restroom.
A few hours after the media reported that Senator Craig had been arrested back in June, the senator responded with the totally implausible claim that he was actually innocent and had done nothing wrong. The officer who arrested him simply "misconstrued" his actions in the men's restroom, Craig said, and he did not have counsel to advise him so he made a mistake by pleading guilty. That's the worst lie I've ever heard from a politician.
At least Michael Vick had the good sense to admit his wrongdoing when he was caught. But does anyone in America truly believe that a United States Senator could be so naive about the law that he would confess to a crime that he did not commit? And what exactly would a cop misconstrue about an old guy in a public restroom? Maybe the undercover cop looked just liked the guy who Craig met in a public bathroom in Union Station in 2004.
Goodbye Larry Craig
A senator and an undercover police officer walk into a bathroom. That's the way comedians may begin jokes in the future after comparing Larry Craig's version of what took place with the police version of what took place.
"According to the police reports, a man, later identified as Craig, kept watching the undercover police officer through a crack in the stall. Craig then entered the next-door stall and placed his luggage against the opening under the stall door. 'My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,' said the officer, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, in the report."
Here's how the police report described the incident with Larry Craig: "At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area." The report also said Craig swiped his hand beneath the stall divider several times. What is there to misconstrue about that?
After yesterday's announcement by Senator Craig, now there's a golden opportunity for Republicans to abandon the role of public morals keeper. From Ted Haggard to Mark Foley to Larry Craig, there's a lot of closeted men and women in the Republican Party. Every time any one of them gets caught with his pants down, it just opens up the party to more criticism of hypocrisy.
If the Republicans were smart, they would get out of the business of serving as the nation's morality police once and for all. The only reason why the Monica Lewinsky scandal didn't kill Bill Clinton's political career is because he never pretended to be a saint in the first place. But any kind of scandal with the Republicans is going to be magnified until the party learns to stop lecturing adults about what they can and can't do in the privacy of their bedrooms.
Once society finally opens up and allows gays and lesbians the free expression to be themselves, then people like Craig won't have to go trolling the public restrooms looking for a hookup.
This is not the end of the story for the Republicans. Several of their leading presidential candidates will come under close scrutiny because of the party's self-destructive moralizing. Rudy Giuliani is working on his third wife and doesn't talk to his kids. John McCain and Fred Thompson have both been divorced. And Mitt Romney, the Mormom guy who has only had one wife, has ties to Senator Larry Craig, who advised his campaign until yesterday.
And this is the party that wants to defend the sanctity of marriage.
Goodbye GOP
A year from now things may be very different, but right now it does not look good for the Republican Party. With the poll numbers down, the war dragging on, Osama bin Laden still on the loose, and the national debt rising, it's hard to point to many accomplishments made during the past 6 and 1/2 years under George Bush. Instead it appears that President Bush is single-handedly running the Grand Old Party into the ground. That means this is an important time of opportunity for Republicans and for Democrats.
By most objective standards, observers would be hard pressed to characterize the Bush Administration as a success. In fact, by most standards this administration has been a failure, even on national security. The war in Iraq, which was supposed to be the president's signal achievement, has instead become an albatross weighing him down. And let's not forget the war on terror has failed to halt the spread of terrorist attacks across the world and failed to track down the one man, Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11 attack that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
On the domestic front, Hurricane Katrina exposed the incompetence and indifference of the Administration when they failed to respond adequately to the worst natural disaster in recent memory. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is awarding lucrative no-bid contracts to companies once managed by Vice President Cheney and George Bush's old pals. And at the same time the national debt has risen dramatically, reversing a trend of debt reduction started during the Clinton Administration.
I've worked in the White House and I know that personnel changes happen all the time, especially after the last midterm election, but right now we're seeing something different. We're seeing the replacement of political figures who have divided our country. Gonzales, Rove and Rumsfeld have been three of the most divisive figures in the Bush Administration. Although Democrats long called for their removal, the departure of those three men may actually make it easier for the Republicans to rebuild. Now the Democrats won't have Karl Rove or Alberto Gonzales to kick around anymore.
That leaves Dick Cheney and George Bush as the two remaining targets, and neither one of them is planning to leave office before January 2009. For the Republicans, this could be an opportunity to change the way they govern, to become more inclusive and less divisive and win back the disaffected moderates. For the Democrats, this is an opportunity to re-focus the attack away from the underlings and toward the people in charge: George Bush, Dick Cheney and the Republicans in Congress.
Comments conceal
Luther
August 28 2007, 9:58AM
This year is filled with selfish, self centered me, me, me types, from the White House to the Justice department the football field, to the bath rooms of the USA. Anti gay "senator" looking for trade in a filthy toilet, and he was a Mitt man no less. Gonzo? Bush crony with no ability to do the job he was granted, just be a yes man and take away basic civil rights in the so called "terror" fight, when the only "terror" is that big plantation house on Pennsylvania Ave. And, those closeted Repugnant's are just screwed up, and just who looks for sex in toilets? Nasty. But, at least he didn't pull a Allen and say it was a black dude and he was afraid and that's why he wanted to do whatever it is Repugnant's do sexually once a year. But, rest assured, the "good" people of Idaho will elect yet another gay baiting GOP'er to replace the trade seeking Craig.
Vick? Throw him in jail, sorry, not one shred of sympathy for someone who electrocutes and drowns dogs.
Kenneth Winfrey
August 28 2007, 10:04AM
Finding closeted Republicans looking for a hook-up in the men's room doesn't surprise me. Lying Republicans so mired down in filth, false-hood, and fanatacism as well as half-truth, hyperbole and hysterics that they're running for the door don't surprise me either.
What surprises the Hell out of me are the idiots who still have "W," "Bush - Cheney," "Viva Bush," and the other such bumper stickers and assorted paraphanalia proudly displayed.
If all of this hasn't shown them that their party leadership and agenda are seriouly flawed, it's saying more about how poorly the education system in America does its job than it ever does about these politicians--we have a lot of sadly misguided people in this nation...
Anonymous
August 28 2007, 10:20AM
Homophobia refers to at least 4 things:
1. Fearing homosexuals (based on false assumptions that they threaten preexisting sexual, gendered, and social norms);
2. Misunderstanding homosexuals (including ignorance of them as actual loving people beyond stereotypes);
3. Hating homosexuals (rage arising from items 1 and 2);
4. Fearing that one may be perceived as homosexual;
The last item, number 4, combines them all.
I condemn some homophobic, hypocritical, closeted homosexuals. But the complexity of homophobia in our culture (the way it affects us all at some time in our lives) makes me also empathize with their struggles, with the risks that they take, and with the pain that they cause themselves and their families.
These closeted statesmen are individually guilty of hatred and hypocrisy. But the deeper crime is our world's lingering collective homophobia.
Nyah
August 28 2007, 12:07PM
Keith, you may be hopeful that it is the end of the GOP but not everywhere is New York City.
The GOP is still appealing to the fears of Americans. Fear of a darker nation through immigration; fear of terrorists coming here if we leave Iraq; fear of "socialized medicine" if we give people healthcare; and fear of gays with the whole gay marriage debate.
I pray that your vision is true, lets hope.
cmoney
August 28 2007, 12:40PM
They closed the "Glory Hole" and a few other adult gay establishments that were literally blocks from the U.S. Capitol, just last year to make room for the new baseball stadium. It was long rumored that "VIP's" from Capitol Hill would often visit these places in a very discrete manner (hat pulled low over their eyes) and get theri freak on. Could it be that Sen. Craig lost one of his favorite venues to cruise for anonymous sex in D.C. and had to resort to airport bathrooms? He'd already been busted in Union Station, so he couldn't go there anymore. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn that Sen. Craig ans many others on Capitol Hill used to frequent these places. Closet trolls!!
C. Baptiste-Williams
August 28 2007, 12:47PM
The Democrats better captalize on this Moral Majority!!
Mel Smith
August 28 2007, 1:21PM
I think this is great news for the democratic party.
Darius
August 28 2007, 1:28PM
Craig did not plead guilty to a "sex crime." He plead guilty to disorderly conduct.
I also think the comment about what would a cop misconstrue about an "old guy in a public restroom" was kind of offensive. You are not exactly young Keith.
Black Woman
August 28 2007, 1:31PM
Republicans and their sex scandals. I'm not surprised though.
Cornell Hunter
August 28 2007, 2:25PM
Misconstrued, eh Mr Craig? According to the cop, the tapping with the foot or whatever bath room freaks do to get their swirl on is the clue or ritua which was unknown to me that there are rituals for such acts, so, it does appear that the gentleman from Idaho was looking for a quickie, and since rumors have been floating around since the 1960's, who knows what his kinks are?
I don't care who is gay, straight or a total freak behind closed doors as long as I don't have to see it or hear it, but, when they bash and use hate speech about gays or people of color, they deserve to be "outed" and humiliated, even though Faux news network had the story hidden and only showed it 15 minutes into the broadcast, had it been a Democrat, lead story.
And, a big happy birthday Mr Boykin and many more!
Gordon
August 28 2007, 2:25PM
The travesty within this whole thing is that people still think that these people are supporters of democracy and will still support them know matter what. I guess the preminition of falsehood isn't false after all. It is truly someone's reality in this country. Lying amongst people has become so common place in this country that even when people are told the truth, it is still so much easier to believe a lie!
This is truly a sign of whats to come. And unless god himself comes down and appoint a new president, there will be another Republican in office next year.
Nyah Molineaux
August 28 2007, 2:41PM
Darius, what is to misconstrue? A cop caught Craig in a bathroom doing the typical activities of someone wanting sex in a bathroom.
Probably you misconstrue about Foley having sex with minors, Haggard getting high on meth while having sex with male prostitutes; or Allen who had oral sex in the bathroom because he was scared of black guys.
Darius these guys including David Drier, McClellan, Melman are fakes are are the biggest closet queens alive.
We need to out all of these homophobic politicians, preachers, rappers.
Qtmia
August 28 2007, 5:07PM
ALL I CAN SAY IS MOST PEOPLE IN POLTICS AIN'T SH_T!!
MANY PEOPLE IN POLITICS ARE JUST COWARDS AND I AM SADDEN THAT SO MANY OF THEM ARE CLOSET GAYS WITH SO MANY ISSUES AND THEY COME FROM DYSFUNCTIONAL BACKGROUNDS.
THE REPUBLICANS ARE THE WORST HYPOCRITES IN THE WORLD!!
SENATOR LARRY CRAIG IS JUST A SORRY ASSED EXCUSED FOR A MAN AND HE IS JUST LOW LIFE SCUM!!!
castiron
August 28 2007, 5:08PM
The good news about Senator Craig's arrest: A hypocrite has been exposed.
The bad news about Senator Craig's arrest: People will erroneously equate lewd and perverted behavior, such as sex in a public restroom, with being gay.
Heterosexual people who don't know gay people OR people who are inclined to believe negative things about gays inevitably will mistakingly conclude that to be gay is to engage in perverted behavior.
Bruce
August 28 2007, 6:09PM
Corrupt, incompetent and in the closet; which political party does that describe? Any quesses?
elg
August 28 2007, 6:22PM
I am in favor of outing hypocrites like married Sen. Craig who vote against the interests of gay people. I don't see, however, that exposing politicians and ministers of his ilk advances the gay rights/marriage cause. It only confirms in the minds of many straight people that gay men (the Sen. said today on CNN that he is not gay) have sex in public places, among other illicit sexual activities, where anyone including children can unintentionally walk in on the action.
But what about Florida Congressman Bob Allen, also married, who was arrested for offering an undercover cop money for sex in a public bathroom stall and his defense is that he was afraid of black men? It may be better, in the homophobic world we live in, to be considered a racist than to known as gay. Scary.
Mel Smith
August 28 2007, 7:16PM
Keith, happy birthbay and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
LaRufus
August 28 2007, 7:34PM
Is he now cosidered part of the DL since he was looking for trade in a filthy toliet? Or is that still just black men? I wonder if he will go on Oprah to say he still ain't gay!
Just more tacky, uncouth actions from the tacky uncouth hypocrites who gay bash, out them all, and if they have a mug shot, even better.
Solo
August 28 2007, 7:49PM
Yikes! How many times is this shyt going to happen? Did this guy really think he would be able to keep this a secret? Republican is becoming synonym for gay! These people are unreal!
As 4 brother Vick, he should go to jail 4 what he did but he should also be given the chance to make amends. I am always amazed how people who claim to be progressive and open minded have no room in their heart for forgiveness. Everyone in this country benefits in someway from the death of animals. Whether is food, cloths, drugs or cosmetics all of our live have been enhanced through the deaths of animals. Peta kills animals, by the thousands, so lets get some perspective here people. Letter the brother resume his life after he has paid his debt to society. All this vitriol and bloodlust is so out of order!
Nyah
August 28 2007, 8:22PM
Keith, and any one of you who have not watched this link need to watch this shit. It is so damn funny. Clinton is a naughty boy, a very naughty boy.
Amber
August 28 2007, 9:37PM
I thank God every day for Republicans, they freed the Negro from bondage.
M
August 28 2007, 10:09PM
First, of course Sen. Craig isn't gay, he's Bi. lol But that's beside the point in Republican Judeo-Christian think. Didn't anyone else read Humphrey's 1960s-70s study on restroom cruising at the public library, over and over and over again?? Cough!
Second, I agree with a poster who wrote that a deeper crime here is the homophobia that drives bisexual men (I think the largest group of men) into hating the homo side of themselves and the homo-affection/orientation in others. This guy like Haggard and others are set-up by society (including gay society) and themselves.
Finally, I disagree with the marriage of "lewd" and "perverted" as some seem to view it. There is nothing "perverted" in sex between concenting adults in private or in public. Craig got trapped by someone who probably led on to some small degree that they two were a concenting adult. Lewd, YES. Perverted, no.
Steve
August 28 2007, 10:43PM
LaRufus: He WAS on the DL. Now he's out to the world. Here's to another fallen hypocrite from the republican religious right. Cheers!
Hamilton
August 28 2007, 11:38PM
Keith,
I wish I could down load a birthday song, but I guess me saying it should do the trick...Happy Happy Birthday to You, and many more enlightful years too come. Peace
E-RED
August 28 2007, 11:38PM
Castiron, you make the following assertion:
"The bad news about Senator Craig's arrest: People will erroneously equate lewd and perverted behavior, such as sex in a public restroom, with being gay."
Well ... if you don't live in New York City, DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, or some other urban area, then being gay usually DOES mean having secret sex in a public restroom. Regrettably, we small-town/rural Americans have no real options but to secretly engage in anonymous sex in "perverted" places.
It must be nice to have healthy venues to express your sexuality ... I live in the mountains, and only have public rest areas to meet other same-sex attracted men. No clubs, no gyms, no churches, no restaurants, no bookstores ... nothing!
So I can relate to the Senator's actions. And, I'm certain others here can also ...
chocolatebear
August 29 2007, 1:27AM
HEY ALL,
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS
"WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT HE SHALL ALSO REAP"
AND LET HIM REAP ALL OF THE HORRIFIC BENEIFTS THIS WILL BRING HIM. BECAUSE WHAT EVER IS IN THE DARK WILL MAKE IT TO THE LIGHT.
P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH! BE BLESSED AND HAVE MANY MORE!
GQ
August 29 2007, 2:22AM
Well, the Senator Craig story is giving me something to laugh about. Don't know if these recent developments will ever "(re)move" Bush and Cheney away from the White House. And if it doesn't happen soon, then the next best thing is to groove with this Honeydrippers jam. If ya dig the funk, then click on below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZqcvO7zajg
M
August 29 2007, 3:16AM
Chocolatebear,
I agree with you. Craig is reaping what he has sown. But it was the revolt against entrapments and extortion by police that started the Stonewall Riots which led to the modern Gay Rights Movement. We can easily be heading back into that direction.
It's all fun and games when the Republicans are getting ensnared, it's another when scores of adult men have to register as sexual offenders, lose jobs be run from town to town, lose out on future employment etc... just because they wanted to meet with another adult male for anonymous sex but got trapped.
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August 29 2007, 3:51AM
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elg
August 29 2007, 4:17AM
E-RED: Thanks for being real about what's available for many gay/bisexual men in small town/small minded America. Every gay man doesn't have the option of moving to a large urban area. Many feel trapped and think they can't make a change. Sometimes social forces (like homophobia) are stronger than individuals.
J
August 29 2007, 7:45AM
M, it's not like public bathrooms are the only random hookup spots in the world. Straight men and women can throw out at least a hundred places for men to hook up. Even before there were all these SGL's networking, things were never that bad.
Call me prude, but I don't know if anyone should be encouraging the public potty sex or rather acting like it's something to fight for. What if some clueless parent sends little Timmy in to handle some business and Twan and Chi Chi are handling some business? Take all of that to the gym or the park all the children in the area USED to be able to play in.
Here people are talking about what straight people are doing to sgl's and ignoring the suicide of stranger hookups. I doubt these men are walking with sacks of condoms and clinic pamphlets.
BookishGuy
August 29 2007, 8:20AM
Then there are the gay men who romanticize "tearoom sex," as it's often called: anonymous sex in lavatories, parks, and other public places.
Websites (like a site run by a white Southern man called cruisingforsex[dot]com) were started, in part, to give men information about public places at which they could have sex.
Gay porn romanticizes sex in public places habitually.
Academics study gay sex in public places, from classic and much debated accounts to new research:
Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places
by Laud Humphreys
Aldine Transaction, 1975
Public Sex/Gay Space
by William L. Leap
Columbia Univ Press, 1999
Public Affairs: Politics in the Age of Sex Scandals
by Juliet A. Williams
Duke Univ Press, 2004
For some people, gay sex in public places is a complex affair that is not only about closeted hypocrites; it's also about controversial sexual customs and choices--kinks, if you will--that defy a host of mainstream gay and straight norms.
Then there is the idea of shame...
Ostend Street
August 29 2007, 8:56AM
Caught in a public restroom??? Oh! How common!
YellaDerrickfromPhilly
August 29 2007, 9:40AM
There have been homosexuals like Craig for eons. Only recently (last 50 years or so)have homos who could "pass" for straight decided to join what is called the "gay" subculture. Before that (for eons) only those of us who couldn't "pass" made up the majority of "gay" people--eunuchs, catamites, queens, drag queens, etc. We had a need to invent/develop a semi-separate sub-culture--and we paid for it.
J
August 29 2007, 9:50AM
Every gay man DOES have options. That's as ignorant as saying someone has no option, but to be a dealer. Some people are just too caught up in their little fantasy. If that's your fetish, fine, but save the BS for GLAAD soldiers.
Darnell
August 29 2007, 10:33AM
No options in small towns? I disagree with that one big time, I grew up in a small conservative town in Texas, and men were getting it on with each other, and everyone knew it and just didn't say anything about it., except on Sunday's. Sex in a public bathroom? Not only is it gross, it is illegal, and as a gay man, I don't want to walk in and see it and don't want some kid to see it either since most who do this don''t seem to have any standards or morals. Go to your car and do it if you are like an animal and can't control it. Tearoom sex plays right into the hands of the right wing about how gay men just can't control thier urges and deserve to be treated second class since all they think about is sex.
Larry Craig is a creep and a hypocrite, just like all the GOP and their "family values" platform to which none of them even know what it means, just a bunch of racists and gay bashers.
And, DerrickPhilly, child, you are too funny, what on earth is a catamite? Bookish, cool info as well.
Anonymous
August 29 2007, 10:41AM
I used to be a catamite when I was younger.
But now I'm just a gum-poppin' lonely old queen.
robOmatic
August 29 2007, 10:42AM
LaRufus: I was thinking the same thing yesterday when this story broke. Remember how racialized the discussion of "heterosexual" men secretly having gay sex was when the mainstream media discovered "the down low?" But now that a series of white men (mostly republican) are outed for engaging in the same behavior no one is racializing the discussion anymore, nor are they referring to these men as being on the DL.
YellaDerrickfromPhilly
August 29 2007, 3:18PM
J:
You're a hard man, but you may be right in this case.
I never took the "option" of cruising for trade in tearooms. I mean, before I left the house (to go out whorin') I'd spend all that time with booty hygiene, soaking in a hot bubble bath, caressing myself with scented oils--and then I'm going to go hunt for a "piece of trade" in some funky-ass men's toilet? Oh no! I had too much pride for that. I worked my trade in the bushes, in the fresh air of the great outdoors: Gay Acres or Prospect Park.
jazzi
August 29 2007, 4:35PM
A catamite is a boy kept by a pedophile for sexual purposes; basically a child sex slave.
I think if anything can be learned from this Larry Craig scandal is that if you live in a glass house, don't throw stones. Jesus called the religious leaders of his day hypocrites because they were quick to point out other peoples sins but didn't take time to deal with the evil in their own hearts. They held others to standards they themselves never even tried to live by. That's dangerous. Before we pass judgement on anyone we need to look long & hard at ourselves. This goes for repubs, dems, gays, strsights, Christian, & atheist alike.
That said, isn't the real tragedy that we allow self appointed moralists & religious people who don't know God bully us into living a lie? It's because people have to live underground that there is even a need for restroom & peepshow hookups. To me, that's the real scandal.
YellaDerrickfromPhilly
August 29 2007, 5:25PM
Jazzi:
That's a modern definition. Some scholars are saying that the definitions may have been used differently in ancient times. Some say that catamite also referred to males who performed in the bottom position during anal sex--whether boys or effeminate males(Often feminine males were not considered men--hell, like in HipHop today). Just like the term "eunuch": in modern dictionaries it is defined as a castrated male. In anchient times, there is evidence that the word "eunuch" (in whatever language) refered to feminine-acting males who also performed as "bottoms" for "normal" men--whether physically castrated or not.
This "history of fem males" stuff doesn't appeal to gay men, I know; but it has the opposite effect for gay "queens"...knowledge liberates--even fuels defiance from the will of the majority.
'Course neither eunuchs nor catamites would have sex in public toilets--that's mainly for closeted homos.
E-RED
August 29 2007, 5:48PM
Darnell, you disagree that there are no options in small towns? So tell us, just where in your "small conservative town in Texas" did you meet men for sex??
Sure, sex in public bathrooms is illegal. Sure, many of us small town folks might want other options than public bathrooms. But your pronouncement that "most who do this don't seem to have any standards or morals" is abject nonsense!
Consider the following scenario. A 15-year old boy who never seemed to be good at sports, or good at the little girls in his high school is on a band trip. They stop at a public restroom on the interstate. While at the urinal, some guy in his late 20s/early 30s with mousey brown hair and black eyeglasses walks up to the urinal next to him and smiles ...
I'll let you imagine the rest.
It's not about gay men who just can't control their urges, but about how one is imprinted.
E-RED
August 29 2007, 6:35PM
Let's assume the first time Senator Craig ever met another same-sex attracted male male was in a public restroom. Isn't it reasonable to suppose he would return to a public bathroom looking for the same thing?
Think about it. The way you are imprinted becomes your standard of reference. So it's not a function of morality; it's a function of exposure.
Amazing how the legitimate human need for one gay man to connect with another can turn an unsafe public place into a private safe space ... and let's be clear, the sex isn't about a primal urge; it's about affirmation.
Sure, Senator Craig is a hypocrite. But let's keep focus on the dichotemy between his anti-gay rhetoric and his pro-gay actions ... and not make a mountain out of a toilet.
Peace.
E-RED
Ron Lee
August 29 2007, 7:54PM
Well,Well,Well Keith,Luther,Kenneth,Mel,Derrik of philly, I just want to say for the record "I'M NOT GAY" ha ha ha ha ha ha !, I JUST LIKE TO SLEEP WITH MEN. HA HA HA HA HA HA! PEACE !
Anonymous
August 29 2007, 10:02PM
I'm no gay either.
I'm just a perpetual bottom.
I lie there limp, face down, bitin hard into the pillow and I take it like concrete takes jackhammers.
Hell, even a kick up my damn ass feels good.
Maybe Senator Craig is just like me.
Maybe he secretly likes the danger of a toilet tryst.
Maybe he wants to be debased.
Maybe he's a closet, hungry-as-hell bottom like me.
Maybe he secretly likes getting his ass kicked by the world right now--an entire leg up to the hip up in his damn butt.
Maybe he really, really, really likes being flushed down the toilet of media and political opinion.
Maybe he's a bottom.
A fuckin' power bottom like me.
That's my sexual orientation.
Craig and I...we're motherfuckin', pillow eatin', ass hiked up in the air, not-even-getting-the-dick hard, total, grade-A, power bottoms who get off on public humilation.
Jeez.
We're sick.
And that's so fuckin' hot, man.
Oh God.
I'm gonna cum.
BookishGuy
August 30 2007, 7:52AM
Of course, we all know who Bayard Rustin (March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) is. He was the mastermind black gay civil rights leader who taught Dr. King non-violent resistance among other things.
Getting arrested in a public restroom for homosexuality doesn't just happen to self-hating white conservatives. It also happens to great black people who are doing great work. In the Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio (University of Chicago Press, 2004), the biographer reveals how Bayard was arrested and even convicted of sex in a lavatory. By the grace of God, this moment did not end his civil rights career.
Even the dreaded wikipedia mentioned prominently Rustin's gay sex arrest: "In 1953, Rustin was arrested in Pasadena, California; he eventually pleaded guilty to sex perversion."
Gay sex was illegal until only recently.
Closeted gays do awful things.
But, thinking of Rustin, I always have compassion for any gay arrested for gay sex because the true evil is hatred of gays.
elg
August 30 2007, 9:21AM
BookishGuy: As you've pointed out, it's not just "old guys in public restrooms" who we don't like because they're anti-gay Republican hypocrites. Don't forget George Michael and that cute black kid who was being groomed by what's his name to be Michael Jackson's successor: Tevin Campbell (I think that's his name).
Gordon
August 30 2007, 11:34AM
E-RED: Man! Its not that deep. THE BOTTOM LINE IS HAVING SEX IN A RESTROOM IS NOT SCIENTIFIC, ITS AN OLD "FAD" THAT STILL EXIST TODAY, THAT HAPPENS TO BE ILLEGAL..And if you are caught doing it, they are gonna lock your ass up for it. Bottom line. Sex in public places are a direct result of gays not having a place to express themselves in a time where being gay was a moral crime historically. And some people still do it for the same undercover reasons. And its even more prevalent now, even though there are numerous places gays can express themselves sexually! Child, the closet can be a lonely place for these folk. They better come out.
TheOriginalAnonymous
August 30 2007, 11:44AM
Elg: you're right. I too think homophobia is the greatest problem. It's what makes men do these crazy, self-hating things. Quite frankly, why make any kind of consensual sex criminal between adults? Who does it hurt?! I've been in that same Union Station bathroom where Craig was and when I came in to pee, the cruisers scattered like rabbits. They don't really want to offend anyone. They just want to "get their freak on" in a quick way that is devoid of personal commitment, social investment, and self-awareness. I also see a great many young men in the many places in my old life where I've sensed that cruising is going on. When I went to graduate school in the mid-West, I was shocked, frankly, to find that the entire gymnasium bathroom was an outright cruise spot: guys sitting in the school sauna with erections hidden underneath of their towels until I left; guys pushing down and hiding their erections in the shower until I left. Public sex is ageless and timeless. Most do it discreetly, albeit obsessively.
YellaDerrickfromPhilly
August 30 2007, 11:52AM
Thanks: Bookish Guy, Anonymous & E-Red. Y'all reminded me that part of being "gay" is to be more tolerant/less judgemental toward other folk. As long as you're not hurtin' folks, botherin' little children (or too young catamites), who am I to judge? But this "canned fruit" senator is a hypocritical motha' who belongs to a political movement which hates and hurts gay people...f__k him!
Ron Lee: One thing I've learned from this blog is that there are many same-gender-loving men who cannot stand us so-called stereotypical gays. I've learned to accept that. But can y'all accept the fact that we aint goin' no where. If violent gay-bashing can't get rid of us, how the hell is trying to "shame" sissies and queens into non-existence going to work? It aint. So, we just do our male to male style of lovin' separately and differently. As for mutual respect--well, we'll work on that.
Mad Professah
August 30 2007, 8:21PM
Thanks, BookishGuy for reminding us all of Bayard Rustin's arrest in 1953 for sex in a public restroom. But 1953 was a very different time than 2007! Homosexuality was considered mental illness and same-sex acts were illegal in EVERY STATE in the Union. That a United States Senator is accused of engaging in such activity in 2007 is mind-boggling.
I do think it is very inteesting how the Republicans have been dealing with Senator Larry Craig (R-ID)'s legal problems differently than they have Sen David Vitter (R-LA). Could it be that one (ID) has a Republican governor wwho would replace the displaced member while the other (LA)has a Democratic governor? Or that one is for gay sex (Craig) and the other is for heterosexual sex with a prostitute (Vitter)? Things that make you go hmmmmmm.
BookishGuy
August 30 2007, 9:58PM
Dear Mad Professah (or, as you beautifully describe yourself on your blog, dear "Black Gay Caribbean Liberal Progressive Moderate Fit Partnered College-Educated NPR-Listening Tennis-Playing Feminist in Los Angeles, California"):
You are indeed correct.
However, I urge compassion because, while homosexuality and homosexual sex may not be illegal in most states, hatred of gays and gay sex is just as deeply entrenched in our society.
Our compassion does not make us excuse people like Senator Craig for his abuses and self-abuses. Our compassion guides us to a sense of empathy for those that struggle with the very real horrors of homophobia.
Here is a great book on compassion:
Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness by Marc Ian Barasch (Rodale Books, 2005)
Derrick_the other one
August 30 2007, 10:26PM
I guess I’m not so easily satiated by hypocritical Republican blood being spilled when a Democrat signed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, and this is after pandering to the gay and lesbian vote. I must have missed the memo that stated that sexual acts constituted sexual identity. That is very much a twentieth century idea. When Senator Craig states that he is not gay and has never been gay- I believe him. If someone asks him if he has same sex desire and he answers “no,” well, that’s a different situation. I believe the ways that we have allowed “the closet” to shape how we understand sexuality has hurt straight, gay, and lesbian people by forcing us into binaries- either straight or gay and I personally don’t believe sexuality can be that simple for everyone. Bookish Guy, thank you for the list. Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Spaces was certainly an “interesting” read. Derrickfrom Philly, I love you.
E-RED
August 31 2007, 11:51PM
Gordon, thanks for marginalizing my identity process. It might not be "that deep" for you, but it was for me.
At the risk of being thrown under the bus for expressing my vulnerability, until I was in my mid 30s, I sought out public restroom whenever I wanted to meet another gay man. My first sexual experience was in a public bathroom, so I thought that's just how things were done.
Ironically, the day I discovered the men's room on the 6th floor of the undergraduate stacks (Baker Library), I left the bathroom only to discover the book Tearoom Trade on a stack shelf.
I read it ... and it read me back ...
Yeah, we all know that bathroom sex is illegal, and that closeted guys often live in those stalls. But can we turn this into a meaningful conversation?
Where did you first have gay sex? a bathroom? a park? a club? ... do you ever return to the scene of the crime?
ROLAND S HAGLEY
September 4 2007, 11:15AM
I agree with 'yellerderrickfromphillie', and want to remind us all here that we are stronger as a unit than divided.We all have a contribution to make to the advancement of gay people, just as black progress. Lets not try to have some kind of fake superiority because we feel we look or act more masculine than 'sissies or queens or whatever'. Remember how we were divided as slaves by who had the lighter skin and 'good hair' we all know the longlasting damage that has caused. I believe in strong agressive revolution and activism but I also believe that the more people we have on our team supporting us even our white gay 'brothers and sisters' the better chance we have of serious equality. Either we are the strong spiritual fairminded people we say we are or we are cut from the same cloth as domineering racist power-hungry caucasian men.Which is it? Free speech is great but no bro or sis should leave this blog feeling like they had just been verbally gaybashed for being to queer.We are much more than that!!!
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