The Tip of the Iceberg
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Friday, August 31 2007, 11:12AM
Republicans moved with unusual dispatch this week to oust Larry Craig from the United States Senate. On the day the bathroom solicitation story broke, several Republicans immediately called for him to resign, and presidential candidate Mitt Romney described Craig's behavior as "disgusting." Hours later, other Repubilcans joined in the chorus against their GOP colleague, and the Republicans in the Senate called for an ethics committee investigation into Craig's conduct. By the end of the week, even the Republican National Committee had taken the extraordinary step of drafting a statement calling on Craig to step down from the Senate.
Although I sympathize with those who struggle in the closet and have no outlets for sexual expression other than public restrooms, I have little sympathy for Senator Larry Craig, a powerful political figure who used his power to heighten oppression against gays and lesbians. But the real issue is bigger than Larry Craig. The real issue is about the illicit relationship between the Republican Party and the red state social conservatives at the core of its anti-gay base.
It's amazing how quickly the GOP can move to eliminate a possibly outed gay elected official. But when it comes to a "family values" senator who solicit sex from prostitutes (David Vitter) or a senator accused of getting a government contractor to renovate his home (Ted Stevens), they drag their feet. There was no GOP movement to call for an ethics investigation to look into Vitter or Stevens, but the party couldn't wait to distance itself from Larry Craig.
But if the Republican Party thinks that Craig's resignation will end the controversy, they will be in for a rude awakening for the next 15 months until the 2008 presidential election. Gay activists are already starting to point fingers at Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) and other socially conservative politicians who vote anti-gay but may behave differently in private.
And although I generally do not support outing most people, I think it's perfectly reasonable for gay activists to target anti-gay elected officials who happen to engage in gay conduct. It's time for the homophobia to stop. And the only way it's going to stop is if the people in power realize that they will be exposed as liars and hypocrites if they continue on their deceitful ways.
And it's time for the Republicans to get out of our bedrooms and get of the business of being the morality police. Despite the Idaho senator's insistent plea that he is not gay, I don't really care if he is or isn't. There's nothing wrong with being gay. But I do care if Craig is passing laws that take away rights for gays and lesbians and then looking for gay sex on the down low. (Yes, Larry Craig was on the down low.)
The only reason why sex scandals don't hurt Democratic candidates as much as Republicans is because most Democrats aren't trying to run the country's sex police. Nobody is perfect and people tend to forgive others for mistakes they make. But we also like contrition, honesty and acceptance of responsibility before we can move on. It's not as easy to forgive anti-gay conservatives for gay behavior because they don't practice what they preach.
Senator Craig missed a golden opportunity on Tuesday to come clean, admit his mistake and beg for forgiveness. Instead he dug a deeper hole that guaranteed his departure. But the Republican Party is also missing an opportunity here too. Until the party learns to resist the unhealthy, self-destructive instincts from social conservatives, they will be doomed to charges of continued hypocrisy as more and more Republicans are outed.
Maybe they don't get it now. But they will once they start to lose more elections.
Comments conceal
YellaDerrickfromPhilly
August 31 2007, 11:38AM
It's all so hilarious!
No, I don't feel guilty about "outing" right-wing, gay-bashing, conservative homos. They didn't care when they were damaging gay people's lives, so there. (In the 1950s, they didn't give a damn about how many leftist Americans lives they ruined, how many they caused to commit suicide.) As for their families, children, grand-children, etc.--yes, that makes it more difficult. The lesson for the families of anti-gay conservatives (on the down low) may be that being a public hypocrite is dangerous and wrong...look what it did to Grand-Pop.
Kyon Saucier
August 31 2007, 11:53AM
I agree with Yella Derrick, this is all funny. First Vitter, then that other guy who gt cuaght offering 20 bucks for a blow job and now it's Craig. The Republicans are a mess and have been a mess for awhile. On the other hand it's a little sad and scary. Sad because I imagine Craig is realy wrestling and tortured inside and that is never no good. Not that I feel bad for him, he deserves it. Scary because all these closeted homophobes lately it seems have done more damage to us than their hetero counterparts. I guess the old saying is true:
" If a straight man is super uber concerned with your sexuality as a gay man, than he probably wants you to f**k him!" LOL!
J
August 31 2007, 12:03PM
No outlets other than potty sex? Try again.
cmoney
August 31 2007, 1:17PM
Serves them right to be outed and humiliated. The first thing this moron says when he gets busted is "I am not gay". Huh? Do you mean you are not gay, but the guy whose dick you are sucking is? Does this guy really think the rest of us are as delusional as he is? If you ever thought that this country was being run by lunatics, Sen. Craig is living proof of that (as if Bush and Cheney weren't enough evidence). It's been said that Washington is "Hollywood for ugly people". That would make Sen. Craig Washington's Brittany Spears. I suspect he's been doing this for years and no one came forward to out him because no one would want to be known for having sex with this troll!
YellaDerrickfromPhilly
August 31 2007, 1:39PM
cmoney: You made me laugh while I was drinking CocoCola, and now it's all over my keyboard and desk..."Hollywood for Ugly People" Stop!
Oh, well, I'll clean it up on Tuesday. When queens get old some of us get a little sloppy.
Thank God, I didn't have any Rum in that Coke...I'd've been trying to lick it off the keyboard.
qtmia
August 31 2007, 2:24PM
I SAY OUT EVERY SELF-LOATHING CLOSETED GAY PERSON DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, MALE OR FEMALE, BLACK OR WHITE OR WHATEVER...WHO IS IN THE CLOSET!!!
SORRY ASS PEOPLE IN POLITICS
Liquid Fonts
August 31 2007, 2:44PM
Generally speaking, I'd say that Openly Gay Men don't have a need for toilet sex, with gay chat rooms, clubs, organizations etc, the "bathroom scene" has enduring appeal to the Closets. So I agree with those who wonder why Craig is focused dismissing Gay rumors.
Black Woman
August 31 2007, 7:21PM
What's also sad is his - wife. I'm sure she truly believes her husband is not gay and has been set up. Gay men really need to out these hypocrites. I agree, they do more damage then heterosexuals.
Cornell
August 31 2007, 9:12PM
Why didn't he just go to Craig's List for his hookups, since 75% of the men there are married.
Good riddance, gay basher and racist as well.
Nyah Molineaux
September 1 2007, 1:38AM
Cornell: From what I heard, he did go to craigslist for the bathroom hookups.
And Kyon you are so right. I remember in High school I was so homophobic, and look at me now. I remember hours of praying that I was not gay, and I would call the 700 club to pray the gay out of me. Thank God I am out of that stage.
But instead of being a lesbian I want to have a sex change so I can be a bad boy, a very naughty boy, a very bad naughty boy, a very nasty bad naughty boy.
If yall didnt watch that 30 second youtube vid of Craig on 1999 Meet the Press Episode, you are missing a treat.
Nathan James
September 1 2007, 8:28AM
Waaay back in 1982, a young NYPD cop named Cibella Borges was very publicly fired by the city for having appeared in a nude centerfold before she joined the NYPD. After the usual public outcry, Ms. Borges took the city to court and won her job back. With a fine sense of irony, someone in Personnel at the NYPD promptly assigned her to the Public Morals Division!
I think the same should be done with antigay pols who are discovered to be the very thing they profess to loathe: Larry Craig, et.al, shouldn't be forced to resign. Instead, they should be made to sponsor and craft the very legislation they were against! Their punishment should be self-discovery: Let them see the pain their acts of homophobia cause. Perhaps they should do community service at a counseling center for homeless gays and lesbians, who were dispossessed because their families subscribed to the antigay rhetoric of men like Craig...
Anonymous
September 1 2007, 10:18AM
Here's a fascinating piece on "The Secret World [...] of Cruising" that details what the reporter and interviewee (the owner of cruisingforsex[dot]com) calls a "subculture" committed to public sex.
Like Black Woman I think the person who suffers most in the disgrace of Senator Craig is his wife. My prayers go with her. Closeted same-sex-having men (they are hardly gay, omnisexual, or bisexual in the happy, powerful, self-actualized sense that I know so well) usually end up hurting their spouses more than anyone.
Lies are a sad part of being in any relationship, including the relationship we have with ourselves. I critique lots of people and lots of things but I'm also careful not to demonize anyone. As I said before, the larger problem is our lingering collective homophobia in this world. It feeds the lies that even the most self-actualzied gays and bi's tell ourselves sometimes.
Old age = more empathy.
Like the self-haters: there but for the grace of God went I.
Solo
September 2 2007, 4:12AM
I have to admit to a certain amount of satisfaction when I heard the news of this latest republican sex scandal but after a few days There is a part of me that feels sorry for this guy. Think of it, having to live your life in complete denial of who you and suffering the mind fuck that comes with. A mind fuck that drives you to a public bathroom looking for sex with someone who pray you will never see again. This man in his own particular version of hell, for that he deserves some understanding.
Bryant
September 2 2007, 3:54PM
I was concerned about statements the police office made during the interrogation of Senator Craig, that he "the police officer" would expect this from a guy from the "hood"; the officer was implying that people from the "hood" are liars.
Downlow is used for black and hispanic men, if Senator Craig was trying to connect with another man for sex, Isn't Senator Craig on the "downlow"?
Zeke
September 2 2007, 9:48PM
Black Woman, I don't feel one bit sorry for his wife. If she was with him she is probably just as big a homophobe as he is.
And what the heck does, "I agree, they do more damage then heterosexuals", mean?
I think you totally misunderstood something somewhere. No one was saying that homosexuals (like Craig) "do more damage" than heterosexuals (like Vitter).
Steve
September 3 2007, 11:17AM
While most of us have been there in the sense of living in denial at some point in our lives, and some of us have probably even lived on the down low as did Craig, not many of us have ever been in a position of such power to let our hypocrisy damage the life of so many others. This one deserves every punishment that can be dished on him. Yes, he's more damaging than a heterosexual cheater because his self-loathing turned into vitriol against same gender loving people everywhere.
BookishGuy
September 3 2007, 1:22PM
Steve's point is a good one.
With all due respect to Zeke, I'd like to highlight Black Woman's empathy for former Senator Craig's wife. We simply do not know her beliefs and there are many married or partnered couples who share opposing politics. Moreover, the reasons why women stay with closeted gay men (or same-sex-having men) are quite complex and often heart-breaking. We can't sweep these long suffering women under the rug and condemn them in the same way that we condemn their spouses. This issue of the women partners of closeted men deserves further study. I suggest the following:
When Husbands Come Out of the Closet Edited by Jean S. Gochros (Haworth Press, 1989)
The Other Side of the Closet: The Coming-Out Crisis for Straight Spouses and Families by Amity Pierce Buxton (Wiley, 1994)
Husbands Who Love Men by Arleen H. Alwood (AMI, 1999)
My Husband Is Gay: A Woman's Survival Guide by Carol Grever (Crossing Press, 2001)
Straight Wives: Shattered Lives Edited by Bonnie M. Kaye (Airleaf Press, 2006)
elg
September 3 2007, 3:48PM
Is Craig being a closeted gay/bisexual supposed to make his anti-gay voting record "worse" than the anti-gay voting records of heterosexual Senators? I agree that Craig's voting record in the U.S. Senate regarding gay rights issues was terrible (and I'm not sad to see him go) but his voting record is no better or worse than that of the anti-gay heterosexuals who will still be in the Senate after he's gone.
Craig did not create the homophobic world view/system we live in. Heterosexuals created that system long ago. Idaho's Republican governor will appoint a Republican to take Craig's place in the Senate who is just as homophobic, perhaps more, if that's possible.
Homophobia will end when heterosexuals see (with help from gay activists and their straight allies) that it is to everyone's advantage for it to end.
MLee
September 3 2007, 6:20PM
Elg, Craig’s being a closeted gay/bisexual DOES make his anti-gay voting record "worse" than the anti-gay voting records of heterosexual Senators, because of all people, Craig should know better. It is OK to be in the closet, but it is not OK to be in the closet and hurt the gay community. I do not equate being in the closet and being on the DL as synonymous.
Zeke
September 3 2007, 10:08PM
BookishGuy, I notice you don't mention Lesbians who marry men. Why is that? Why are they NEVER included in these ad nauseam discussions about gay people who marry? Why are the husbands of lesbians NEVER talked about as victims? Where are the books about betrayed husbands? You won't find them because, for some reason, no one seems to acknowledge the fact the lesbians marry men just as often as gay men marry women. Even when it is acknowledged it certainly isn't discussed with the same level of scorn.
James Synegal
September 4 2007, 8:01PM
I say Ah Hah!! That serves him right, I am a graduate of Xavier University of Lousiana,Orleans where I earned my BA in Political Science. I am from New Orleans and growing up knew that Repubs like David Vitter were hippocrites he is also quite a racist, know he is caught with Madame prostitutes. Ah hah! Now who is the joke on. For the other one, I feel sorry for him,now we know that d--k is a lovely thing and he had to wait all these years to finally get him a taste. It serves him right to, he was one of the most anti-gay Republicans ever. All I have to say is these so-called conservative Christian Repubs need to sit down somewhere always talking about family values and morality. They do not realize that we are all just people and we all have faults!
Steve
September 4 2007, 10:48PM
elg - point taken, but you have to remember this man wasn't simply voting, he was leading the charge. Until we gay people make it more distasteful to be a sexual hypocrite than to lie about your own reality, we will continue to be persecuted.
Steve
September 5 2007, 8:38AM
Here's an excellent link to a post about the plight of the wife by Susie Bright on her blog: http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2007/09/the-sexual-self.html?cid=81680045#comments
Zeke
September 7 2007, 8:18PM
Something else I don't understand, and has been bothering me for a while now, are the ads that have been on this site for months now for shows that glamorize and sensationalize the closet and the Down Low (The Closet and The DL Chronicles respectively).
Maybe this has been discussed here already and I missed it but what the heck's that all about?
Gay men seem to be the only minority around who glamorizes and revels in their shame.
I just don't understand that.
Ron Lee
September 8 2007, 5:03AM
Craig,looks like the "poster boy" for closeted homosexuals...."I am not gay", Yes in freaken deed. Craig,foley,Vitter & Allen are who Attorney General Gonzalez should have been investigating instead they were going after politicians in democratic strongholds like New Orleans Williams Jefferson who is responsible for helping a million Black & Hispanic people become home owners,something he helped initiate during the clinton years and continued during the first half of the bush years.He was also starting major trade deals with Brazille & Nigeria something I don't here any other politicians are doing or trying to do. PEACE.
Comment Preview