He Did Nothing Wrong
Larry Craig is out the door, and he doesn't have many fans left. I'm certainly not one of them. As has been widely reported, Craig is the proud recipient of a zero -- ZERO! -- from the Human Rights Campaign for his anti-gay voting record. As HRC concluded, it's pretty hard to find any issue on which Craig has taken a stand for justice, fairness, or decency.
I'm also horrified by the mobius-strip like way in which Craig's legacy turns in on itself: Anti-gay lawmakers like Craig work so hard to inflame homophobia that it becomes all the more difficult for closeted individuals like Craig to live open lives, which in turn enables anti-gay leaders to foment fear. In a sense, Craig has done everything wrong. I'm glad to see him leave.
That said, Craig's story saddens me at so many levels. As I argue in an op-ed in the Washington Post today, Craig's career has been destroyed as a result of the most trivial of infractions. My partner, upon reading Craig's arrest report, shouted, "But he's done nothing wrong!" And indeed he hasn't. This is the extent of his crime:
Craig walked into a public restroom and fidgeted with his fingers for two minutes as he stood outside an occupied stall. Several times, he peered through a crack in the door. Then, he entered an empty stall, sat down, tapped his foot, and touched the shoe of the person in the next stall with his own. Finally, he swiped his hand under the stall divider three times.
That's the totality of his crime.
Craig probably was looking for sex, but there is a big difference between seeking sex and having public sex. What if, for example, Craig planned to ask the occupant of the next stall to follow him to a private hotel room? What if he simply enjoyed the chase and planned to stop short of sexual conduct? It's sickening that lawmakers who support torture eagerly condemn Craig for a toe tap.
Society, of course, has the right to enforce standards of public decorum. But when we punish people for a wink and a nod, we let our anxieties about sex override the best traditions of what it means to live in a free society.
Let's be frank: Craig is being punished because he is gay, not just because he was arrested or because he has a vexed relationship with the truth. A student of one of my colleagues, Professor Tobias Wolff, did a study showing that gay men in a major metropolitan area are arrested on lewd conduct charges for public behaviors which heterosexuals engage in commonly. According to Wolff, "The double-standard -- including the selective treatment of different public places as implicitly acceptable or unacceptable for exploring assignations, corresponding closely to whether the places are coded straight or coded gay -- is stark."
Craig's personal anguish must be nothing short of extreme. If Craig were being punished for his destructive voting record and the numerous ways in which he has used his authority to crush people who needed help, that would be one thing. But to see him destroyed for being gay brings no comfort at all.
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I have to admit that this whole thing has left me conflicted.
On the one hand, when looked at as an individual the story of Larry Craig is a very sad one. I find it very upsetting that this man was so twisted by society that he felt he had to resort to this behavior. I think it is unfortunate in the same way as when a person who saw their mother beaten as a child grows up to be a wife beater. (I am not trying to compare peeping to wife beating, just pointing out how society can contribute in both cases)
Though on the other hand just because it’s important we understand how a person ended up where they are it’s also important that we recognize where a person is and treat them accordingly. We should explore ways of changing society so it doesn’t drive people to this behavior, such as true equal rights under the law regardless of sexual orientation. However we shouldn’t excuse this behavior. If Craig did the same thing to a woman in a unisex or woman’s bathroom, there would be no debate about him being a peeping tom.
I am all for equal rights and non-discrimination laws applying to sexual orientation. I also feel that crimes motivated by the believed sexual orientation of the victim should be considered hate crimes. However I cannot imagine any argument that would convince me to allow somebody to peek into a men’s room stall I am using.
We can, and should, debate what an appropriate punishment is for this but I cannot agree with your partner that “he did nothing wrong”.
When it comes to off-road diversions in public spaces, there is only one way to ideally level the playing field:
Make it MANDATORY that all public restrooms designate separate facilities where nooky of any sort and persuasion is legally permitted - without fear of harassment and security cameras.
Not only the cops, but the worried Republicans got him by the nads and would not let go until he took the long walk back to Coeur d'Alene to join right wing skin heads and bikers. Public exposure (of the hypocritical foundation to the Republican party) is a very serious offense. As for Larry, himself, don't cry for him--he will come out on top, probably as a lobbyist for the hard wood industry. However, his odd brand of furtive sex is providing anti-gay fuel. Unfortunaely, toe-tapping, wide stances and hand signals in a public bathroom, like the astro-nut diaper caper, will have a long half-life and become part of a tragedy/comedy lexicon. Moreover, the incident should underscore the folly of the retro plainclothes decoy sting operation for prevention of this kind of wrongdoing (prevention apparently was the goal since the cop busted him before any actual sex act occurred) and yielded a disorderly conduct plea. It would seem like the use of uniformed police patrols would be a more efficient manner to ensure safety in public places.
I agree. A witch hunt by any name, is still a witch hunt.
The undercover police officer, should have allowed the alleged perpetrator to display an act of lewed behaviour. Waving one's hand about uner the stall, is by no means 'lewed.The officer acted as judge jury and executioner.
I've got news for you, anyone standing outside a bathroom stall staring at you for a couple of minutes through the crack in the door is pretty damned lewd, if you ask me. And if anyone sticks their hand under a stall I am using they will pull back a nub. Same with the foot.
he wasn't destroyed for being gay. He was destroyed for being a hypocrite and a republican gay hater who turned out to be gay.
Nobody destroyed Larry Craig but himself. He decided to live a very public life that was a lie, and he got caught with his pants down, literally and figuratively. Larry Craig is a self loathing hypocrite and coward who helped pass laws that adversley affected many many more gay people, who weren't cowards, and who weren't "looking for love in all the wrong places".
Sure, part of the reason that Larry Craig was forced to resign, has to do with the fact that the acts he was accused of were homosexual as opposed to straight. But there's more to it than that.
- Craig, had repeatedly come out against gay marriage. He had become the poster boy for hypocrisy, on the issue.
- There's a devastingly, funny video of Craig telling Chris Matthew's that Clinton had to be impeached, because he was "a nasty, dirty, boy." Along with all of the rest of his absurdities, Craig has become an object of scorn and ridicule.
- Idaho and Louisiana are so far apart in terms of what's permissable and what's not, they could be in different galaxies. Seriously. Not twenty years ago, Lousiana allowed drive thru, road side, drink emporiums, where one could get an icy, gin and tonic for the long drive ahead. People are allowed to wander the French Quarter, with drink in hand.
What Vitter did was not especially news in Louisiana, and he may even be a ble to survive it. What Craig did was probably beyond even imagining, by most Idahoans. They would never be able to relate to him, or trust him again.
- Part of the reason why he has to resign are the lies. The lies he's been telling his family, friends, community, and colleagues. His whole life was a lie.
- NBC did a report during the during the 80's on an extensive cocaine delivery system in the House. There were also reported rumors that Craig, threw wild parties and provided dope to pages. The Republicans were looking at another Mark Foley.
- If Craig had adimitted he was gay from the time all this became know, forgiveness might have been possible.
Sen. Craig was "destroyed for being gay?" But Sen. Craig says that he's NOT gay--he just ACTED gay at the most inappropriate time possible.
I think It's very kind of you to want to help Sen. Craig, especially when he's not clearly not interested in helping himself. Consequently, I doubt very much that he wants the gay community's support. More important, Craig has actively used his public office to "destroy" the lives and dignity of REAL gays--THAT should be the source of your "discomfor
Until Sen. Craig REALLY comes to terms with himself, I say that he OUGHT to suffer--and that I'm glad that he can't make the gay community suffer any longer.
Bad boy, Larry Craig. You're a naughty boy. I think that Larry Craig is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
Karma works in mysterious ways!!!
He's not being punished for being a queer - it's because he's a liar. What else has he lied about?
Do we want even more liars in Congress who won't admit to his crimes?
Enough already!
"Stark" differences? Since when do public restrooms have 'gay and straight codes'?
How does that work?
"The double-standard -- including the selective treatment of different public places as implicitly acceptable or unacceptable for exploring assignations, corresponding closely to whether the places are coded straight or coded gay -- is stark."
Aaron, the study you mention that cites "gay men in a major metropolitan area are arrested on lewd conduct charges for public behaviors which heterosexuals engage in commonly", how do heterosexuals use public restrooms for sex?
I am a frequent flyer and have never encountered a man and a woman together in any public lavatory I have frequented -- public restroom or Officers Club.
Your argument is reaching for straws. Craig DID do something wrong: he lied about being gay and, in doing so, betrayed the public trust with his consistent anti-gay voting record. That is called 'hypocrisy' and the Craig bust has united the straight and gay communities as never before to purge our hypocritical, untruthful elected officials out of office.
No thinking person gives a damn whether Larry Craig is gay on not. I couldn't care less what he puts in his mouth -- it's what comes out of his mouth I find so objectionable.
Craig said he isn't "gay" and I believe him, but he does like to have sex with men. His crime was working so hard to use the hatred amuricans feel for gay people to his own advantage. Does he really care that men are having sex with men? Nope - in fact he wants his cake and eat it too! Now, the issue of his arrest must be considered separately. Should he have been arrested? No. Would hetero men be soliciting sex from women if we had unisex bathrooms? Yes. They don't get arrested for it because they don't have the opportunity for it. Is arrest for soliciting sex wrong? Of course. Is arrest for actually having sex in the restroom wrong? Nope - that I can accept.
yes, hetero men would be arrested in unisex bathrooms if they asked women to have the sex in the bathroom. It would not be illegal to ask a man or a woman in a public place to go elsewhere like your home or a hotel to have sex. But, you can't ask them to have the sex IN THE RESTROOM.
Exactly.
He is a hypocrite, and one with power over peoples' lives, which makes him a public danger.
Doesn't mean much when applied to you and me. But when a person has the power to hypocritically ruin people and in fact does ostracize, incarcerate, belittle, alienate and criminalize human beings who are not hurting anyone, that is entirely another thing.
It's not that he is gay. It's that he's a hypocrite. He was actually strongly anti-gay in any number of instances, and caused untold numbers of people additional harm and injustice.
For that he deserves what he got.
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I am very disappointed that Craig caved-in and failed to act like the manly man he is and resigned. He certainly should have dragged his "non-gay" ordeal out through the 08 elections. So with this pervert behind us - so to speak - the people will just have to focus on the MANY other Repugs under investigation for criminal behavior. The latter include: Sen. Ted Stevens (R. Alaska), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R. Calif.), Rep. Gary G. Miller (R. Calif.), Rep. Jerry Lewis (R. Calif.), Rep. Rick Renzi (R. Az.) and additional Abramoff cohorts yet to be named. Then, of course, there are Repug Sen. David Vitter and his diapers and whores, Repug ex-Rep. Mark Foley and his boys. In addition, Florida State Repug Rep. Bob Allen (McCain's Florida co-chair) still faces charges of solicitation for prostitution after he was arrested in a Titusville city park that had been under surveillance. He allegedly offered an undercover police officer $20 for the unspecified Craig-like act. And let's not forget Repug ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham and Repug ex-Rep Bob Nye, who are both serving time in jail. What FUN this will be!
Even the RWNJs (right-win
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