Satan's in the Stall Beside Me

The demise of mountain state Republican Senator Larry Craig amuses those of us who enjoy watching right-wing heroes crash to the ground, spiked on their own hypocrisy. It further confirms my theory: prick any conservative and the kink oozes out. The rockier the rib, the more likely you'll find pink lingerie under the trousers or a bullwhip and manacles in the bedside drawer. You can bet those Beltway dominatrices, madams and escorts (gay and straight) have been able to buy second homes -- maybe even in Sun Valley! -- with their haul during W's reign.

However, because we are people of compassion, we should also feel a little horrified by this tortured man's sad, humiliating demise. He's obviously lived his whole life afflicted by the religious psychobabble and outright bigotry of people who say homosexuality is a sickness and a lifestyle decision instead of an innate state of being that has nothing to do with illness or choice.

The sickness, of course, is in the suppression, which is why closeted men seek love in rank public bathroom stalls.

The Republican Party got Bush re-elected in 2004 by playing the homophobe card. In Ohio, their minions went door-to-door in Amish country and warned the historically non-secular inhabitants that if they didn't get out and register Republican, gay marriage would be the law of the land. Tens of thousands of Amish men and women hitched horses to buggies, cracked their whips, and raced to the nearest polling place to vote to repel the Sodomites. With their unprecedented help, Ohio, that crucial state, slid ever so narrowly into the red column, sending the Bush regime back to the White House with four more years to plot how to bomb Tehran.

The trouble with this wedge issue, as everyone now knows, is that it's Republican suicide. The hateful public stance of the party has driven its many gay members into ever more contorted acts of self-loathing excess, driving the disease of suppression out in the open and subjecting men to public stoning by their own frenzied followers.

Foley, Haggard and Craig are only the most famous. There's Florida Rep. Bob Allen, also caught lurking for sex in a public bathroom, Corporal Matt Sanchez, gay porn star and -- for a shining moment -- Fox News channel's right wing Marine of the moment. And who can forget Jeff Gannon, the right-wing faux journalist with a secret life as a gay escort favored with a hard (yes!) White House press pass by the Bush administration communications department.

Yesterday, Republicans were sprinting away from shiny-shod, crisply cuffed mountain man Larry. Craig "represents the Republican Party," Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, said. You got that right, Pete! And then: "I think it's important for Republicans to step out right now and say, 'No, this behavior is not going to be tolerated.'"

"Tolerated." Now there's a word Republicans should meditate on for a long moment.

When I was covering Capitol Hill just before Clinton's impeachment, every other young, spiffily manicured male staffer I met in Republican Congressional offices was at least androcentric, if not obviously gay. I don't have a sensitive gay-dar, but there was something about them. Ties never askew, hair immaculately groomed, cuffs gleaming, they usually knew more about my shoes than I did.

Bill Clinton's voracious heterosexuality had as much to do with drawing their rabid hatred as any of his other attributes. He loved women too much, and if only he'd given equal time and effort to seducing those beautiful men, he might have saved himself some trouble.

Republicans in Washington know there are probably more gay men in their ranks than there are on Castro Street.

Still, against all logic and sense, they won't utter a word about tolerance.

It's time for Republicans to embrace their own gay wing and stop fueling the sickness of suppression that drives men like Larry Craig into airport bathroom stalls. Until they do, they're headed straight for the toilet with him -- not that they shouldn't jump right in anyway.

Comments

[mojotrain]

My goodness. The posters on this thread have much more hate in their hearts than the people they label as haters.

Shocking really....­..

[BLDEBRIS]

Who are you? I don't think I've read anything so on the mark before. My god you're observant! What you have to say about these bois from the hinterlands is right on. In all of this about Craig though, I haven't seen anyone speak of the issue I think is central here which is deterrance versus entrapment. One should think if these officers were making rounds in uniform, making their presence felt, there would be no need for them to be sitting on the toilet playing tapping games with their marks. An apt example of this is the motives of the officers of the National Park Service who dress to attract men and wander about places known to be frequented by men looking for sex. If they were in uniform wouldn't they be a deterrance?

[Robert59]

Sounds like you got busted in a national park. What the officer did wasn't wrong and it wasn't entrapment. Public bathrooms are for urinating and defecating in, not for having anonymous sex.

So because a place happens to be where men go to have sex we should be forced to alter our behavior. If I go to a public restroom I should be expected to be hit on. If I go to a national park I now have to accept being propositioned.

You are totally off the mark.

If you want the kind of sex he's interested in, go to a hotel, an apartment, your house, or adult establishment (but even this might not be a safe bet as having men cruising around and hitting on not interested customers is frowned upon).

[amorando]

Listen to the tape of the arresting police and the accused. Then I think you might rethink your statement. Shame on the police for spending their time sitting in toilet stalls trying to get an adjacent users to touch their foot. That is shameful and I see the police as the culprit. THe police are guilt, not the accused. They are guilt of entrapment and of wasting their time.

[antisprawlactivist]

A great essay! Dangerous, unforgiving, and accurate. Bravo

[ParacleteofKavorka]

What Craig did was revolting. However, consider all the raping, sexual harassment and advances women have to deal with constantly that is done by straight men. It's always amazed me then how straight men are so easily offended by any advances by another man. Men make laws to protect themselves from wiggling fingers under a stall while women have to prove they didn't ask for it during a rape trial.

[Qbear]

Putrid KWEER KAPOs like Rove, Mehlman, Scott McClellan, Charlie Christ, David Dreier, Dennis Hastert, Mark Foley, Bob Allen, Larry Craig sold out their own TRIBE, cowering in their closets, and worked against the human rights of the entire LGBT community. I suggest they all slip on their pumps with sensible heels and start running. The rest of us will be sporting and count to 100....fir­st.

[Qbear]

I got a small amount of vomit in my throat tonight watching Krauthiemer and the FOX panel singing the virtues of Barney Frank and Andrew Sullivan (I suspect it's the only 2 queers he knows their names)for being Openly gay so younger gays don't have to live the closeted lives of Craig and his generation. Except I'm also Craig's generation, and I didn't waste my life as a COWARD, it's almost 30 years ago I came out.

[GreatFutureForAll]

"I didn't waste my life as a COWARD, it's almost 30 years ago I came out."

From someone that's not gay, but enjoying life in an "interracial" relationship (even though there is no such thing as "race"), I just have one thing to say:

C-O-N-G-R-­A-T-U-L-A-­T-I-O-N-S!­!! You learned how to live your life for you and the REAL God; not for anyone else.

[Tommymac]

Rethugs are caught in a web of their own making.

They formed an alliance with the Religious Fundamenta­lists...wh­o are now a vital part of their base.

They HAVE to hide in the closet...s­o they can pander to the Fundies...­no choice. They are forced to be clandestin­e...to be hypocrites­...in order to maintain power.

Unfortunately, sexuality is a powerful force to keep bottled up inside one's self...and we are seeing the frequent meltdowns as a result.

At least liberals can come out of the closet, and live an open, helathy lifestyle.­..they don't have to pretend to be something they are not.

[aninconvenientgay]

I'd feel compassion for him if he wasn't such a hypocrite and hadn't voted for every anti-gay piece of legislation and against every pro-gay one that came along. Now the Republicans don't want him and the gays won't have him. He's going to feel pretty lonely from here on out, and he deserves it.

[Ani]

Way back when ... I dated an undercover cop who spent his nightly shifts looking for, as he said it (not me) "hookers and queers." He didn't didn't spend his time in places where the particular activity didn't happen. He spent his shift in bars and bathrooms where there was notorious activity. I'm afraid Senator Craig's in trouble with his public statement. He was in the "vicinity" and he did the "behaviors­." 'Nuff said.

I'd like to, however, voice my sadness for his wife and family. Why these politicians parade their wives out to stand in front of the cameras is beyond me. I felt sad for Mrs. Craig. I have a brother-in-law and a daughter who are both gay, so I'm observant of those who subject their loved ones to public humiliation because of a bigoted stance. Being gay is not wrong! It's human.

Again, 'nuff said.

[newpantaloons]

Ani, thank you for your comments. I also feel some sympathy for his family, but I often wonder why the "wives" allow themselves to be paraded out in front of the cameras. I am sure, if it were me, I would have told him that he made this mess and I would not be paraded out to make him look better. I guess, they (the wives) also have a lifestyle to consider, but really now, wouldn't she know the true situation. I know denial is a strong emotion, but we're talking about a marriage here.

Still, I feel sorry for these women, and hope they will find some kind of happiness. It looks like kind of a rough road ahead for them for a while.

[mommamia526]

I have a problem with this blog. To me the issue is not LOVE, certainly not that, and it is not sex. They were not even exchanging first names, real or made-up ones. It is not about gay or straight either. It is about Health. Mental health and physical health. It is about guys who have anonymous *encounters*, risk std's and other illnesses in the age of AIDS, and take those illnesses home, to wife and family. And I do not care if it is a woman they *encounter* or a man. And they speak about suppression causing them to do this that or the other, not being able to control themselves, and always others *made them DO IT*. Did you read that arrest tape:"YOU were solliciting me", said Craig and I was waiting for *and IF it were not for YOU*, classic for games people, especially men, play. - Eric Berne, Games People Play. - Time for men to grow up and become responsible for their evil deeds. And we need to address this with specific healthcare programs, such as weekly check-ups, mandatory, for the male population, just like they do with the whores in the red light district in Amsterdam. Well, if your hair now stands up and you are screaming. This is a blog. I comment under a handle. And, as often, I came up with a different view and idea. Chew on it. Oh, and here is another idea. Higher healthcare insurance rates for men: "men are high risk". Better yet, let us dump them.

[Grulg]

Larry Craig should star in the next Transformers Movie. You know-he could star as this gay Right Wing gay-bashing Senator that turns into this big Pink Flamingo wavin' Robot. You know Mikey Bay'd direct it and the press'd have a field day.

[DietrichMoody]

Thank you for writing this. Sen. Craig resignation will only FURTHER fuel the sickness of suppression that drives men like Larry Craig into airport bathroom stalls. The Republican party just wants this to go away, like Sen.Craig wanting the incident to go away, only for some other Senator to pop up in five year doing the same behavior. Also,
Being gay is NOT sick behavior and US Senator resigning will only solidify in the minds of people the belief that it is, further pushing being gay from being normal to being degeninerate. Resigning would be the WORST decision they Sen. Craig could make, by not only making matters worse for gay rights but by encouraging anti-gayers to propel the belief that being gay is a degenirate behavior.
Also, why wasn't Vitter resigning after his illegal activity over and over again, with prostitutes? What about the illegal activity of other Sen. that we don't hear about?
Maybe Sen. Craig will think twice, in the future, before encouraging anti-gay public policy, this might be a good thing. This might open up other gay related conversations in politics and in the Republican party. Think about how many other gay Sen. or Congressmen exist?, but the Republicans don't want to hear it, and when it pops up they want it to go away.
Having him resign will only have him being replaced by some other Anti-gay politician, but this time, he could be a whole lot worse, further pushing gay issues into the backburner and it will Mark gayness with this -bathroom stall sex - thus being exactly with anti-gayers want to see, because to them being gay is nothing but sick behavior.
DO NOT RESIGN, SEN. CRAIG. Do not let this issue to be swept under the rug and go away.

[NeoAmerican]

Tolerance is more hated by the GOP than anything else. If they couldn't be intolerant, what issues would they have? Looting the Treasury for their donors? Destroying obscure third world nations? That doesn't play too well without some emotional support.
If you can't stir up division and hatred among your fellow Americans as a diversion, the public might catch on.

[Shane]

Larry Craig is a sad man -
Cruising for sex in a public restroom
is pathetic -
Being a Republican Senator who is disdainful
of gay rights and then is picked up for
solicting a police officer in a public restroom
is beyond pathetic -

The Republicans are not to big on examining these things -
They aren't going to ask why a gay man ( or whatever he is) such as Larry Craig would join
a party that is so dismissive of gays -
There is actually a lot to learn by delving into this question -
Since the Republicans aren't going to delve into this question I guess that leaves some of us to do it -
I think it is a very important thing to do -
It's time for people other then the Republicans to start setting the agenda -
Let's Do It!